Don’t lose faith
It really is sad that once again our sport is all over the news for all the wrong reasons, but we shouldn’t be surprised.
Unfortunately, we are a community that thrives off bad news. Every time we tune into our local news stations, all we hear about is death, tragedies and other people’s misfortunes, so of course when someone was a hero and was deceitful we all want to hear about it. However I believe that track and field gets hit way too hard when someone is caught cheating.
While watching ESPN the other day, I heard one of the gentlemen say that it seems to him that all track athletes are cheaters. He said that in order to compete at such a high level, you have to use performance enhancing drugs. NOW THAT’S UNFAIR. Just like everything else, we must keep things in perspective. When a preacher is caught for fondling a child, do we say all preachers are like that? Do we lose our faith in the church system, or do we just say that one spoiled apple doesn’t ruin the bunch? When a political leader is corrupt, do we lose faith in democracy? Do we say that all leaders are unscrupulous, or do we move on knowing that one person’s deceitfulness doesn’t reflect the rest? That should hold true for our sport as well. There are cheaters in all aspects of life, but no one person is bigger than the church, bigger than democracy, and no one athlete is bigger than the sport.
On a much lighter note … There were so many good stories in our sport this year. Not only all the great performances but even more than that. This year at the world championships, there was a girl from Afghanistan. That in itself was truly amazing! With all that we see and read about, it’s hard to believe that there is a young girl living there and training to be a world class athlete. Although she didn’t make it out of the first round, she accomplished a lot more than most. She has exhibited to a nation of other young girls that even when your world is falling down around you, if you stay focused anything is possible. I truly hope that her story will make a difference in Afghanistan and that her presence in Osaka is an indication of her people’s perseverance.
– San