Can we stop acting like 1 championship per year is too much to ask from athletes?

World cycling championships are going on in Scotland right now, and somehow people who raced 6-plus hours the other day on the road raced in a time trial today, or on mountain bikes.

Some who raced in the 20 minute-or-so mountain bike race today will race in the longer race tomorrow.

They don't race twice a year. They race twice in two days.

I’ve never seen anyone excusing them for skipping Worlds.

Outside of marathon runners and ultra runners, if a pro runner doesn’t race more than 5 times in a calendar year they should lose any “pre-qualified/ bye” status and maybe even contract consequences. (Barring a SERIOUS injury of course). Regardless of who they are. Nike and NB just paid some of their most important athletes in the sport to train and model this year.

I don’t get it from the athletes POV, personally. Why train your ash off and sacrifice huge parts of your life to be in record shape, and then never go out and attempt records?

I will first and foremost say there are team players and selfless individuals in the sport. BUT T

rack is predominantly a me me me sport, aside from being on a team in high school and college. So with it so individually focused, athletes will tend to get increasingly stubborn amd selfish. It's like a person who has no kids, they are more likely to become increasingly selfish because they are always focused on themselves and not others.

Exactly. ESPECIALLY for athletes like Sydney and Ating who doesn’t run indoor, doesn’t do cross country, and run only 1-2 race in the outdoor season. Is it really so hard to do your job as an athlete? The job that you are getting paid millions of dollars for. Mary Moraa and Keely Hodgkinson have been running countless indoor and outdoor races this season, winning some and losing some. Not miss wanna be model who has been on more podcast and commercials than races. The sad thing is that those two women running their hearts out and not being afraid to put themselves out there are probably getting paid less than miss Ating Mu. What a disgrace.

Guys will take pain killers and do anything not to miss the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA finals, World Cup final and any other championship but runners feel anything less that perfect and they skip their championship.

F'ing weak sauce.

And did the Tour De France just two weeks ago...

This process can also create pressure and stress at the same time. Some people may spend too much time and energy on exercise and weight control, leading to missing out on social experiences and life balance.
It is important that one should focus on maintaining overall health and balance, rather than focusing solely on physical appearance. Self-love and self-acceptance are also important for maintaining a positive mindset and mental health.

It is absolutely shameful and pathetic, the ease with which these 'elite' athletes withdraw from the insanely few competitive events they attend each year. Sad state of coddled little baby athletics.

Thank you for this post. I've always felt like the off year should be eliminated altogether and Worlds should be held in every non-Olympic year. You simply can't convince me that being in top shape once a year is too much to ask of these athletes.

I've never competed or coached at the elite level, but I do know that training is done in cycles, and each cycle builds off the previous one. But I'm supposed to believe that running three rounds of a 400 or 800 will somehow hinder one's readiness for the Olympics a year later. Ridiculous that anyone takes that excuse seriously.