Yup, too much Olympics

[the_deep_magic]

Chinese Diver Wins Gold, Is Finally Told That Her Mother Has Cancer And Her Grandparents Died A Year Ago

This seems to have been confirmed by several sources, and it just breaks my heart.  No, I don't know that our system for training athletes is much better (my sister is a dancer, and in high school she had several friends whose parents had sent them to her ballet school from hundreds of miles away -- some of them even lived on their own at the age of 16, and most were "home-schooled" through online programs that required almost no work at all), but the words "government-sponsored training facility" send a chill down my spine.

I remember my mom asking me during the 2004 Olympic controversy over the possibly underage Chinese gymnasts, "What happens to these girls once the Olympics are over?"  Perhaps you could ask the same of gymnasts from all countries -- even if they make it through their teenage years without damaging their bodies so badly that they can't compete anymore, as a gymnast, you're pretty much washed up by the age of 22 (notwithstanding that 37-year-old from Germany who came in fourth on vault tonight -- how awesome was that?  I just wish she'd medaled).  At least over here, generalizing very broadly, they have the support of their families and the option of continuing their education.  I hope the Chinese government continues to support their athletes after their careers are over, though I haven't heard of that being the case.

And I hope Wu's case was a horrible exception -- I'm trying not to immediately conclude that those damn Commie furriners are locking children away in factories for the sole purpose of churning out medal-winning machines.  After all, I've seen what happens when teenagers choose to commit themselves completely to a physical discipline that has a sky-high injury rate and a very limited lifespan, and it ain't pretty, either.  Even my sister, who remains committed to dancing but chose to go to college (which many aspiring professional dancers don't do), suffers chronic pain in her back, shins, and ankles, and is having surgery on her foot next week.

There are few athletes who can make a living solely by playing their sport, and even those that do have a shelf life, obviously longer for some sports than for others.  Many of them, even the most famous, have a few shining years and then are never heard from again -- though lately they have the option of popping up on celebrity reality shows for a last gasp of fame.  I don't know; perhaps most of them turn out alright and are able to get coaching jobs, or start over completely and become successful in a new profession.  I have a feeling, though, that for all but the most famous (and attractive), the odds aren't good.

I don't know; that article just got me thinking and made me sad.  Here, let me fix it: Olympics or gay porn?

Comments

[gryffin-draco.livejournal.com]

That's actually a serious problem in the horse world. The riders that are still riding professionally in their 50s are VERY rare and usually started later in life with a lot of money to buy easy-going horses. For those of us that start young, we're mostly done by our early 20s due to injuries (I have a friend who's broken her arm so many times she has to have a brace at all times because the bone is so brittle), chronic back and hip pain, and arthritis (every life long rider has it by 18, at the latest). Everyone has broken, dislocated, and/or shattered something within 5 years. We also have the highest injury/death toll of any sport in the world (80,000 hospitalizations & approx. 1,000 fatalities a year worldwide). Physical therapists hate our guts since we never obey them. We just hide that side of it better than the gymnastic or the dance worlds do. Unfortunately, that's the price you pay for a sport you love and are serious about.

It really does worry me what happens to the communist country competitors once they're washed up, though. North Korea sends losers to work camps (where most of them die due to the hazardous conditions), China sends them to factories, and god only knows what the USSR did back in the days when they were openly puppy-milling their competitors. It makes me so sad.

[the-deep-magic.livejournal.com]

Yikes, I had no idea the injury rate was so high for competitive riders, but I guess it makes sense. I did read that there was a 70-something-year-old Japanese guy in one of the equestrian events, but I'm guessing not a particularly rigorous one.

[fatty-fat.livejournal.com]

ouch. this whole thing. ow ow ow.

not really something i like to think about. but it's good to acknowledge, i guess.

[the-deep-magic.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Even in the U.S., we only see the very, very top of the athletic world, and not all the people who give up everything else in pursuit of being at the very top and fail, some due to no fault of their own. And as for what happens to the Chinese athletes who are so heavily favored coming in and then choke under pressure... I'm not sure I want to know what happens to them.