To be annoyed with the idolisation of Olympic athletes?

[Floogal]

Sick of this every 4 years. I am not against the Olympics per se. I like watching the judo, boxing, handball and volleyball. But these points explain why I find hero worship of athletes annoying.

1. People are very quick to moan about how footballers are overpaid for simply playing football. Or Connor McGregor being on benefits while training to be in the UFC. They are fair points, however Olympic atheltes paid a healthy income and have a lot of their expenses paid for.
2. Similar to the previous point, I hate the way they are lauded by the media and given honours for doing something that pays quite well and that they enjoy.
3. I remember last week we were watching ITV news. There was a feature about private sector carers being overworked and underpaid and how it impacts their personal lives. Later there was a documentary about Olympic athletes, many going on about sacrificing their leisure and family lives. Bit hard to feel sorry for them.
4. The government and media (as well as professional athletes) like to go on about how obese and unhealthy most people are. Well most people would love to only worry about excercise and nutrition, but SOME OF US HAVE TO WORK FOR A LIVING!
5. This point has been touched upon by the media and few recent MN threads. Many of the athletes come from affluent backgrounds!
6. The athletes featured on the Purple Bricks adverts come across as really unpleasant. Bit of a backfire.

What does everyone else think?

What do I think?

I think I’d much rather my kids idolised athletes like Olympians, as oppose to reality tv stars that are worth billions, for what? Because of what? Of who their parents are?

I hate that young girls and women aspire to look and be like them and other ‘social media celebrities’.

Much rather they looked up to athletes.

You don’t seem to have a clue what you’re talking about and just sound bitter and nasty. My nephew represents England at athletics, has just finished uni and has a full time job. He works far harder than most of his mates who are just working and not training and competing.

His dad has an admin job and his mum is a teaching assistant. Your weird idea that athletes are affluent and on easy street is just ignorant. Stop whining.

I am with you a 100% , I am from his neck of the woods and despise him as a rapist gimp. On the other hand I am in awe of the training and stamina of Olympic athletes .

Olympians athletes are not well paid, hardly at all. A fair few do not come from affluent backgrounds, especially when I think of boxing. I think some of the athletes are amazing role models for many kids/ teens qnd football is a totally unfair comparison! .

Tbh I find the Olympic and the athletes inspirational and love watching it with my daughter. I would love her to find a sport that she loves, maybe she's see something or someone that inspires her! I hope so.

It's really really really really hard to become an elite athlete. They are not well paid to do something they enjoy. A very lucky few get sponsorship or government funding. Many don't. And they sacrifice years of their lives and push their bodies to the absolute limit.

I was at Cambridge with several Olympic rowers and their life was literally rowing and studying with very strict food intake and very little student life.

Nope! Dont agree. I personally know an Olympian in Toyko now, who competes in one of the sports you enjoy watching. The financial sacrifices he has made are huge. He lives in pretty much a porter cabin on the site he trains at. He comes from the opposite of an affluent background. He inspires a massive amount of young athletes within his sport, I have nothing but admiration for him

I find it weird OP, though for none of the reasons you listed. I just find the idolisation of Olympians weird.

I'm from a country where we've not had many medal winners at all, and they are respected but Brits take it to a whole other level.

Classic example is Torvill and Dean, they won over 30 bloody years ago, and still people go mad for them performing the same damn routine, it's a weird fascination that I can't get my head around.

I know someone competing this year and partaking in sport costs her money.
YABU and a misery. It’s a week every 4 years.

@MolyHolyGuacamole

I find it weird OP, though for none of the reasons you listed. I just find the idolisation of Olympians weird.

I'm from a country where we've not had many medal winners at all, and they are respected but Brits take it to a whole other level.

Classic example is Torvill and Dean, they won over 30 bloody years ago, and still people go mad for them performing the same damn routine, it's a weird fascination that I can't get my head around.

I mean we haven't come close to an Olympic ice skating medal since (there were a few before them) and they were pretty ground breaking in what they did. I suspect if we were still winning gold medals in ice skating they would not get as much attention. (And ITV have hyped them up to get Dancing on Ice to sell as a concept).

I got half way down your dull post and realised- you know zero about amateur sports.

As others have said, my mate, a painter and decorator, is currently in team GB as a swimmer. He works in the day after getting up at 3am to start training at 4 am to fit it in before work. Has barely a social life as time spent in work, the gym and the pool is basically his life.

He's been training for this since he was about 14. His parents have run him around to training etc for years. He's had no sponsorship, hasn't been to summer camps all paid for by premier teams, and hasn't earned the stupid money footballers have, while seemingly still having enough time to go out on the lash etc. but yes, his flights and accommodation have been paid for...

Thinking about it - what a bizzare thread to start. If all the things to be fed up with in life….

@LavenderAskew

Olympians are not professional (they can't be) and hence do not have hefty incomes.

So how do you explain Andy Murray being an Olympian?

[quote yorkshirebloke1]@LavenderAskew

Olympians are not professional (they can't be) and hence do not have hefty incomes.

So how do you explain Andy Murray being an Olympian?[/quote]
Because Andy Murray plays Tennis and has won Wimbledon. Tennis is huge here and so he’s more well known due to that.

Take the worlds strongest man. He’s British but no one would know who he is as his sport isn’t as popular/well known.

I’ve just watched the Helen Glover documentary on iplayer, about her return to rowing, following her retirement after Rio and then having 3 children, in a bid to qualify for Tokyo. It’s very inspirational.

I believe professional sportsmen like Andy Murray compete at the Olympics for the kudos, not for money.
There are competitors who won't be earning money because they are still at school. The synchronised swimming team are doing A levels.

@Ickle37

I got half way down your dull post and realised- you know zero about amateur sports.

Sums up the whole thing succinctly.

A lot of professional sports people don't earn much from their sport, my late dp was a professional snooker player & had to work as a taxi driver to support himself as snooker didn't pay enough unless you were in the top 32 in the world, he was number 65. Had he been number 65 in the tennis World he would have been earning 100 times more money, the only sports that pay are tennis, football & golf. After paying entry fees, travel & Hotel bills there isn't much left unless you win a major tournament.

I’m intrigued at your bitterness. I’d address why you’ve taken time to detail everything you dislike about something that doesn’t affect you and work on that.
now sports admin, I could rant all day about, but I choose not to as it does my head in

I have to say I don't understand why tennis and football need to be in the olympics- most players don't seem to care about it much. Professionals are allowed in the olympics but in most olympic sport there is no professional option. Some of them will train full time - normally those who are good enough to make a living from endorsements etc.- but most combine with work or study. Of the people I know who got an olympic medal, one was in the military, one was doing a PhD and one was a teacher (on a 0.8 so got one extra day to train).

@sst1234

Like others have said, Olympians are inspirational. Unlike the vacuous wannabes putting out ‘content’ on TikTok or appearing on reality shows. Honestly the bar for achievement is getting lower all the time.

A fair number of Olympic athletes spend hours on tiktok and Instagram. They rely heavily on sponsorship and their sponsors expect them to create content. It is part of making a living

Do you understand what they actually do to even be there. Do you understand what it takes to run the triathlon that finished 30 minutes ago at the level that they all did it at.
Maybe, just maybe with some of the pro sports like tennis or golf but generally these are people who dedicate their life to a dream without any financial reward of any significance. Only 3 get medals but literally hundreds tdy and qualify and then compete without any chance of a medal. Of course we should look up to people like this.

I think we are a sport loving country. It's a big part of our culture. I volunteered at London 2012 and everyone involved (apart from G4S) was really passionate about sport and the Olympics and why the hell not? It's about people striving to be the best that they can be and being wholesome and healthy. I don't see how that can be construed as a bad thing.

And I was at school with a Gold medal winner and they literally had no life away from the regime and 35 years later I can tell you it made no money for them at all. But we're they an inspiration when the gold medal was shown to us in Assembly, you bet it was.
And even my children know who they are and are in awe that they went to my 18th birthday party. So yes, we should look up to them.

What does everyone else think?

That you are both ignorant and extremely bitter.

I suspect the fact you reference their ability to focus on exercise and nutrition suggests you do neither and it's hit a nerve. Newsflash - you can work for a living and still exercise and eat healthily.