While at BlogHer I met a lovely, gorgeous lady named Jenny. Because my memory is that of a walnut, I cannot remember if I met her during the 'speed dating' portion of the conference or if she just sat down next to me at some random time. Either way, she's another of my new blog crushes. (Is it weird to admit who your blog crushes are? I'm not above it. Nope.)
Jenny recently wrote a post that I was going to write about, also. Not the part about training for an "Olympic distance triathlon" because you all know I am not that motivated. At least not yet. First I need to get in the habit of working out on a regular basis (so far so good!) and then I'll look into some type of marathon or triathlon.
No, the part I was going to talk about was the 2 stretchers part.
Jenny was telling me about an Olympic hopeful (contender?) who had a paid staff of people that help her train.
...a head coach, a sprint coach, a strength coach, two stretchers, two masseuses, a chiropractor and a nanny, at the cost of at least $100,000 per year.
Are you freaking kidding me? Maybe I'm naive, which has been proven to be the case many time in my 30+ years, but seriously, she has a fleet of people? Just to help her train?
I am just blown away that all this time I thought Olympic hopefuls and contenders were just really hard workers with a drive and passion and the ability to stretch themselves. Sure they might take in an hour long massage here and there to de-stress and relax. And they might drop their kids off at a local Kinder Care. Hell, they might even have a standing appointment with a chiropractor to get adjusted when needed. Now I find out that you have to already be a millionaire to support a staff of almost 10 people to make it to Olympics?
My impression of the Olympics was that every person who made it there was chock full of self motivation and a better work ethic than I am. I'm sure that really is the case. I'm sure that almost everyone who's ever made it to the Olympics has worked their ass off, cried a lot, bleed a lot and generally killed themselves to attain their ultimate dream.
But isn't hiring a staff of people to help you along the way a little much? What about the people that have the same goal but can't afford to hire a stretcher? Aren't they at an immediate disadvantage because they don't have that strength coach at their side?
I guess I'm a little taken back by this whole thing. I've always had a certain picture in my head of how an Olympic participant must be and how much individual work it must take and now I find out that it takes a village to help someone run better or swim better or whatever event it is in question.
I feel sort of like I did the first time I saw one of my teacher's smoke a cigarette. Shock, awe and disbelief all rolled into one.
Did you guys know about this? What are your thoughts?
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7 comments:
I think you were the one that told me about this at BH. So anyway, I think it's weird but then again if you think about it, maybe this lady just wants to make sure she does everything she can to win the gold. I am not sure if I think everyone else is at a disadvantage because I think at the end of the day if you've "got it" then you "got it" with or without the entourage.
Well it's like the little gymnasts that work with that Bella guy. They definitely have an edge because he pushes them like crazy and has a whole team that works with them at his studio.
I don't think it's shocking, I just don't think I ever thought about it to that level before.
This is exactly how I feel about the presidential race. There's something not right about the fact that you need to be rich to get elected.
Although I have the feeling there are plenty of "regular" people who work their ass off and make it to the Olympics. I think, though, that people who can afford it figure "why not?" and throw money at the situation.
I am guessing what really separates us from Olympians is something you can't buy - some kind of innate talent or body chemistry that you are born with or not.
I don't know, now I kind of want to track down some competitors who don't have seventeen trainers and root for them.
I guess I just think that is how things are these days.... and another reason why people have made "networking" a good thing and not as slimy as it once was. You know? It is all about who you know ... or hire. But seriously, her skillz got her there in the first place... I know if I had that crew, I would NOT make it that far.. but instead, I'd end up in prison for offing them because FOR CRYING OUT LOUD I just want ONE donut. One.
Jenny (and her friend Jennifer) were the lovely ladies who went to the lesbian bar with me and Raven. Then we happened to see them in the big conference room the next morning, invited them to sit down and the rest is blog crush history :)
My niece has been training for the Beijing olympics for years now. And I'll tell you that she is one of the ones you were mentioning...the amazing effort and dedication...with nothing behind her except supporting parents.
So don't give up hope!
Dude. I totally did extra stretches after my spin class today... ya know, just in case any Olympic scouts were there... :)
*crack*
Oh, sorry, that was my neck...
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