A "loser" I think not (Athletes in General)

Member Name: garsbfc

Product:	Athletes in General
Date:	25/08/04 (69 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb embassador for British sport

Disadvantages: Unfair criticism

I think it's quite harsh to label anyone who fails to win Olympic Gold as a "loser". I?m referring to the numerous people who are determined to enter Paula Radcliffe into this category.

The obvious factor regarding the conditions of the race has been stressed, but I don?t think enough. Even Paula herself knew before the race started that they weren?t going to favour her at all. It's not her fault that the media in Britain had her down as Team GB's "certainty" for a gold medal. The pressure on her to perform, placed on her both by herself and by the weight of expectation in Britain, was probably bigger than on any other British athlete at the games.

In other sports, there are guys like Colin Mongomerie, who have won plenty of "Order Of Merit" titles but never succeeded in a golf "Major". Is he less successful than Paul Lawrie, with his one major but very little else? I think not.

Some people are calling her a ?bottler?, because she failed to finish the race ? this I don?t agree with but, if ever someone was on a hiding to nothing, it was her. She had to win a gold medal, and win it convincingly, to even MEET people's expectations. Kelly Holmes, by contrast, was something of an underdog and (deservedly) gets praise for winning because it was somewhat unpredicted. It was the media who gave Radcliffe the "certain winner" tag - you cannot blame HER for that!

I'm not saying that the media should take all the blame for Radcliffe's failure, but I think she might feel pressured into running in the 10,000 metres race just so that people's lasting memory of her isn't her breaking down in tears during the marathon.
There are a lot of people who should be thoroughly ashamed of their bashing of Paula Radcliffe. Armchair athletes who have no idea, nor any inclination to find out what it takes to run a marathon - let alone at that speed, in those conditions
and as an asthma sufferer.

I can never quite understand why so many people are first to jump on the victory bandwagon when someone from the GB team wins a gold medal and say "WE won a gold", yet they are the first to say "THEY/HE/SHE lost".
Perhaps it's because they are so woefully inadequate themselves that the only way they can make themselves feel good is to try and claim some sort of credit for something they had bugger all to do with. Of course a loss means a good old-fashioned slagging off, I mean they can't be associated with 'losers' can they?

Even the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen in the world make mistakes. Paula's main fault seems to have been making it in such a highly prominent race, in front of millions of people.

Summary: