The Olympics minus the bad bits
March 24th 2012 05:51
How much better would the Olympics be if we knew no one was cheating?
A shrewd idea to help clean up the Olympics has been proposed by an economics lecturer at La Trobe University. But more on that later.
Anybody who loves sport cannot fail to be stirred by the Olympics. To love sport is to be seduced by its drama and beauty – and the Olympics epitomises both.
It is extraordinary theatre to watch the best of the best. Their years of sacrifice end in remarkable wins, heartbreaking losses, personal bests and inexplicable failures. We feel their joy and pain because we understand something of what they have endured to make it that far.
That is why we are moved when an athlete produces a performance that appears to be superhuman. It is not hyperbole to say that this is the best of the best of the best. There are seven billion people in the world, but here is one who has combined God-given talent with years of training to stand above us all. Those who love sport understand the significance of such achievements and are duly moved.
Hundreds of millions of people would still be moved by the memory of one historic moment from Beijing 2008.
It was not the moment Usain Bolt left the blocks or drew level with his rivals or nudged ahead of them. It was what came next – a display of such astonishing acceleration that he was able to leave the world’s greatest sprinters in his wake and finish in a world record 9.69 seconds, despite slowing down near the end.
It was dramatic. It was beautiful. We felt privileged to watch it.
But an unpleasant feeling would have gnawed inside most of us. It was dramatic, it was beautiful – but was it legal? Could anybody perform at such stratospheric levels and remain within the rules? And what about when he further lowered the record to 9.58 seconds a year later?
We were moved by Carl Lewis’ remarkable feats. He turned out to be a drug cheat. We were moved by Marion Jones’ remarkable feats. She turned out to be a drug cheat.
Most viewers would have tried to block out such uncomfortable thoughts as they watched Bolt record his historic win, but few would have succeeded.
That is why all reasonable steps must be taken to clean up the Olympics. Cheating can never be eliminated, but if fewer athletes do it and a higher percentage of those who do are caught, we will all feel better about the Olympics and performances like Bolt’s.
Enter Liam Lenten from La Trobe University. He has an economics solution to a sporting problem.
He told The Australian that athletes should put a percentage of their prizemoney and endorsements into superannuation-type funds. The clean ones would get access to their fund when they retired; the cheats would not. It would make all athletes think twice about cheating, especially those who decided to turn to drugs late in their careers when they had relatively little to lose from a positive test.
Here’s another suggestion: any Australian athlete caught doping should have to pay back every cent of government assistance they had ever received. Our taxes are meant to be subsidising their training, not their injecting.
Anybody wondering how much more we might enjoy the Olympics if we regarded it less cynically should think about Makybe Diva and Black Caviar.
Racing has always had its share of ‘colourful identities’, but despite the Fine Cotton scandal and countless other acts of corruption, few think dark thoughts when they witness extraordinary feats on the racetrack.
Watching Makybe Diva win her third consecutive Melbourne Cup had all the drama and beauty that we love about the Olympics. Only a remarkable athlete could have carried so much weight and still found a way to win such a competitive race. It was a privilege to watch.
The same can be said of Black Caviar and her 19-race winning streak. The horse gallops along unremarkably in the pack, until, with 200 or 300 metres to go, she unleashes that once-in-a-generation display of acceleration and speed. It is a privilege to watch such a superlative athlete.
Makybe Diva and Black Caviar have given us only drama and beauty. We haven’t wondered ‘what if’. We have just watched, admired and felt privileged.
How much better would the Olympics be if we knew no one was cheating?
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