The Olympics and the Cost of Being Elite
In case you haven’t been keeping up with the goings on in Rio, Katie Ledecky is a pretty big deal in the world of Olympic swimming. The 19-year-old American is such a heavy favorite in her best event, the 800-metre freestyle, that one would have to bet on her $10,000 to win back $100. Yes, she’s that good.
Ledecky is so good that she makes her competitors look like children swimming against an adult. At 19, however, Ledecky does not have something most would consider a basic part of adulthood, a driver’s license. She is content to allow her parents, coaches, and teammates ferry her back and forth from practice to practice. Ledecky does seem fairly well adjusted for someone who may spend over eight hours a day swimming and working out, but she has been forced to neglect many parts of a normal life in pursuit of swimming greatness.
The same can be said of many other competitors at the Rio Games.
Michael Phelps, perhaps the greatest Olympian of all time, seems to be in a suspended state of adolescence. He’s dealt with his own personal issues with drugs and alcohol, and didn’t really seem to know what to do with himself after contemplating retirement. So, Phelps is back doing the only thing he’s ever really known to be important in life — winning Olympic gold medals.
There’s London double-gold winner Mo Farah, a distance runner who spends over six months a year holed up at altitude camp, away from his family, trying to create as many red blood cells as possible. Farah has said that one day he wants his kids to be proud of all of his medals and times, but how much happier would those children be if they had their father around for key moments in their lives? Former American Olympian Ryan Hall, a marathoner, spent most of his career suffering from low testosterone levels, induced by countless weeks of over 100 miles run. His body felt like it was constantly on the verge of breaking down. Upon retiring, Hall took up weightlifting, because it is hardly functional to live life at 130 pounds if you are an adult man.
Gymnasts deal with severe caloric restrictions, and most have only one real shot at glory. Without much shot at an athletic career beyond the age of 25, most gymnasts have to sacrifice their prime formative years to make it to the elite level. As is the case, their interviews often lack personality or depth. Having spent one’s entire life, often from the age of three or four, doing nothing but gymnastics does not always lead to the most well-rounded person, but that’s what it takes to be the best.
Outside of the marquee sports like swimming, gymnastics, and track and field, most Olympic athletes toil in obscurity. They give up a lot to pursue their dream to be the best. Career and family are put on hold. What is best for their athletic career must come first. Many live at or below the poverty line, even in those primetime sports. All are at the mercy of their sponsors.
Why then, do they do it? Why are so many athletes willing to sacrifice so much in their personal lives to pursue excellence?
It all comes down to mindset and desire. Most of us average people are just not hardwired to do something, and one thing only, with a singular focus. It’s hard as hell to get up everyday, knowing that eight hours of hard training lie ahead. It does take an elite talent and a winning genetic lottery ticket to reach Rio, but what’s going on between the ears is just as important as the physical attributes that make these athletes dominant forces. There has to be an innate ability to block out doubt, distractions, and everything else if an athlete is going to reach the pinnacle of sport. You’re not going out with your mates for a few beers on a Wednesday night. You may not have a full social schedule, or even a real job. If you have a significant other, they probably come from the same pool of athletes, living the same lifestyle.
It’s hard.
The same can be said of being “elite” in any other pursuit in life. While it is likely far more lucrative to be a big-time investment banker, lawyer, or entrepreneur, it is just as hard to remain focused and block out many other things in your life. Fourteen hour days at the office? Considerable time away from family? Losing friendships? Those are all probably things that will happen if you are at the top of your respective field.
Just as there are plenty of athletes who fall just short of reaching the Olympics or don’t fully reach their potential, there are average lawyers, surgeons, engineers, and bankers. We are not all wired to be elite. If that were the case, everyone would found their own company or hedge fund. It takes a special mindset, not necessarily the best and the brightest, but the most dogged, to reach the top.
The Olympics are a good case study in what it takes to be an elite human being, and looking at athletes through that lens does lend itself to a deeper understanding of what it takes to be the best. There are plenty of things outside of your own control in your life and career, but you have control over one of the most important aspects — your willingness to work. We’re not all going to be CEOs or millionaires one hundred times over, but there is a personal level of “elite” that we all can reach, and that means finding the one thing that drives you to work, and pursuing it with no hesitation. If you’re willing to pay the cost, you will reap considerable rewards in the long run.
