thickness narnia wrote:
Seb sounds like a huge dick. I wish someone would explain how tweeting makes you run slower.
It's just meaning more or less, that the more you care about having all of your opinions and feelings heard, and having your throngs of fans understand every waking movement and thought in your body via the internet/twitter, the less likely you will be to suceed from an athletics stand point.
Why? If you do not focus on what needs to be accomplished on the grandest stage in track, with the best athletes, probably the less likely you will be succeed. Not saying you have to be a hermit, or an OCD person, but you do need an immense level of focus on the task at hand. Twitter may take this focus away from some people.
I understand the positives of twitter as a news outlet, but using it so ALLLL of your followers know what is happening with you at all times is just vanity, and a bit arrogant.
I am a DIII runner in the United States and grew up idolizing Nick Symmonds because of his ability yes, but also his seemingly down to earth, kind personality. He's a great interview, and a very nice person from what I hear. I do not enjoy his pre-occupation with trying to turn himself into a minor celebrity however, and I do not believe he will come near a medal this year either.
I will be pulling for him. But I think he is a tad unfocused and should be 1500m runner from hence forth. I see him 5th or 6th in the final...again.[/quote]
People need to realize that Nick has been in London since the opening ceremonies and didn't race until recently. That is a lot of downtime.
What is a runner supposed to do in their downtime? You can only sleep so much. Tweeting takes NO effort whatsoever. Hell, it is probably one of the better things an athlete could be doing in there downtime. No different than talking on the phone or talking with reporters.
Only old curmudgeons (and some young ones) view twitter as some exhaustive, arrogant activity that drains all of your energy.
I hope Nick takes silver (I'm being realistic here), and shows the old snobs how today's athletes have changed and how the sport is GOING to change, in spite of them.