Appreciating Achievements and a Generosity of Spirit

No one should need to be convinced that Paula Radcliffe was a great distance runner. It should be evident to the dimmest of intellects that breaking the world record for the marathon by such a huge margin that no one else has come close to her time in 10 years is a huge athletic achievement. It was not a case of just having one run where everything came together - she still has the three fastest marathon times to her name. She is the best women's marathon runner of the 21^st Century but she has not won an Olympic medal and the misfortune she suffered in those races has given some people the ammunition to undervalue, or even dismiss, everything else.

A couple of days ago the BBC carried an interview  where she talked about the probability that her days of competitive running are over. Injuries have taken their toll and the latest operation on her foot is taking a long time to heal. As she herself admits it was always likely to end this way, with the her body giving out before the competitive will has abated and it is unsurprising as a body can only take so much punishment. She is a classic example not only of what can be achieved with extreme dedication and hard work but how such regimes cannot be sustained indefinitely. Nothing illustrates this better than the fact that she ran for 18 years on a stress fracture (something a wuss like me finds hard to comprehend).

I would have thought that a great athlete facing-up to the end of their career would cause people to remember the highs and celebrate what was achieved but nowadays that is rather naive as the culture of the internet commentator seems to be quite vicious. For some reason (and I really don't know why as it is something I usually avoid) I read the comments below the article and was quite shocked at the abuse, mean spiritedness, and ignorance. Why? She has always seemed to me to a be a decent, honest, and committed as well as being one of the country's greatest runners we have ever produced, so why would people want to be so spiteful?

Athletics Weekly had the same reaction as me and posted an interesting article suggesting the lack of respect was caused by a culture that saw medals as the only measure of success. Perhaps; but I think there might be something else happening as well: the way some some people identify so strongly with the person they are supporting they feel personally let-down (almost insulted) if that person does not perform as expected. Sadly Paula Radcliffe was not fit enough to compete properly (or at all) in the last three Olympics and so could not show how good an athlete she was. When she was sitting on the kerb in the Athens marathon, unable to go any further, I saw heartbreak. Others, however, saw it as  quitting and an excuse to give up on her and pile-in. They saw vulnerability as an excuse for abuse.

Such people are best ignored as it is always better to try to look for the good in people and rejoice in examples of nobility or generosity. But thinking about it reminded me of a famous case from athletics history, which showed that people who really know what is involved in distance running can see triumph in what outsiders might see as defeat. 

Ron Clarke was the dominant middle/long distance runner of his generation, for example in 1965 alone he set more than 10 records, but he too never won an Olympic gold. His best opportunity should have been 1968 but that year the Games were held in Mexico City, at altitude, where his ability to compete was also compromised by an unbelievable IOC rule that no one could train for more than a month at altitude to acclimatise (sometimes you have to wonder what goes on in the minds of sporting bureaucrats). He thus knew he was at a disadvantage to athletes who had been born, or lived their lives high up, nevertheless he ran as he always did, from the front, albeit at a more leisurely pace. His plan was to run faster in the last four laps and at first that was what happened but with a lap and a half to go he was finished, without enough oxygen in his body. On willpower alone he somehow managed to complete the race but took 90 seconds for the last lap instead of his normal 64. He then collapsed on the line, under the bell and was in such a bad way the team doctor, Brian Corrigan, was weeping as he administered oxygen. People were worried about his survival and although he recovered there was permanent damage to his heart. 

For what it’s worth the winning time (by Temu of Kenya) was the slowest since Emil Zatopek, twenty years before, in London and it is Zatopek’s generosity of spirit of which I want to speak. He can lay claim to being the greatest Olympian of them all not only because of his achievements (he won four gold medals, three of them in Helsinki in 1952 where he won the 5,000m, 10,000m and the marathon) but because of who he was as a person. In 1966 he invited Ron Clarke to Czechoslovakia and at the end of the visit accompanied him to the airport. Just as Clarke was about to leave Zatopek thrust a parcel into his hand saying ‘this is for you because you deserve it’. It was an Olympic gold medal, one of the four. As Ron Clarke has said

"I do know no-one cherishes any gift more than I do, my only Olympic gold medal, and not because of what it is, but because of the man whose spirit it represents".

There is no reason for Paula Radcliffe to worry about internet trolls but if she is upset she should think of the gesture of Emil Zatopek and know that, as it was for Ron Clarke, her peers know what she has achieved and appreciate her qualities.

Keeping Active Pt. 1 - The Olympic Legacy

The leaves are gone, it is dark early in the evening, and cold has now given way to rain, and in other parts of the country, flooding. It is winter and the glory of the summer Olympics already seems an age ago. When you are hunkering down against the weather it is hard to remember the feelings of warmth an openness which characterised that time. The reviews of the year remind us what happened and show many glorious moments but the hoopla has now over and it is time to look what at what was promised as a legacy. No not whether West Ham take over the Olympic Stadium (an issue on which I have vanishingly small interest and absolutely no opinion) but whether the population will become more active and participate more in sports. The slogan was: "inspire a generation" and the hope was that a festival showing the limits of human physical performance would seize our imaginations and encourage us to do more ourselves.

I have always been sceptical as to whether watching elite sport spurs many people on. Supporting a team is as much about identity as anything else and ou only have to see the number of beer bellies wearing team shirts to know that not all spectators are as active as they might be. A problems is that top sportsmen are so much more capable than the average person they might be a different, but closely related, species (how can someone sustain 5min miles for 26 miles?). What they do is outside normal in all honesty we cannot say to ourselves “I can do that”, instead our response is “Wow!”. It is possible that instead of inspiring imitation all the exceptional performances reinforce the idea that sport is for other people. 

Running is the sport with the lowest barrier to entry: anybody can buy a pair of trainers and get going but I would guess the London Marathon is a far bigger inspiration for participation than Usain Bolt. Seeing people of all shapes, sizes, ages and abilities, who each in their own way achieve something personally significant does make you think: ”I could do that!”  We are all more likely to accept a challenge if we think it is achievable and when there are people we can realistically measure ourselves against. After that it is a ladder: if we find we have some talent then we compete against better people, and so on, and so on. What this requires is an infrastructure of grassroot clubs with the coaching to encourage us all to give of our best. This infrastructure is ultimately far more important than a huge festival (no matter how great it  might be)

Don’t get me wrong I thought the Olympics were brilliant and also important in an unexpected way: like nothing else in my lifetime it showed us we were a cosmopolitan nation with a sense of identity more vibrant than is usually allowed.  The efficiency of the building, planning, and running of the games combined with the high spirits of the helpers and good nature of spectators showed we are not a broken society. After so many generations of politicians and news commentators telling us that we are failing in every conceivable way and all is rubbish, it gave everyone heart to see this big thing being done well. Self esteem is not only important for individuals it is also important for nations and for this reason the Olympics were a wonderful thing but that was not their intended legacy.  There is a big difference between the short term emotional release and the day-to-day work of getting more people permanently active.

 Evidence from previous Olympics is not encouraging. Perhaps this time will be different but as I have already said mass participation in sport requires infrastructure: playing fields with changing facilities, running tracks, cycleways, all-weather tennis courts, outdoor gyms, gyms, parks, all of which have to be maintained as well as built.  Clubs and leagues have to be staffed, volunteers have to give of their time, knowledge and enthusiasm and dreams have to be kept alive. In the summer, in a beautiful Olympic Park, surrounded by happy people, dreams are easy. In winter on a badly drained, muddy field with no working showers in the changing rooms it is more difficult. 

Perhaps it is now time to put aside 2012 as a marvellous year of elite sport and look at how well the rest of us, the sub-prime physical specimens, are doing at keeping active.

The Meaning of Sport

Source: BBC

Saturday was probably the most exciting day of sport I can remember. Although the night, with its three GB athletics gold medal was uplifting and extraordinary in its own right it was only the culmination of a day of highs (mostly highs) and lows.

In the velodrome there had been the sight of the GB women's pursuit team, perfectly drilled riding for one another for their sixth consecutive world record. Such a relentless power applied with an economy of effort where only the legs seemed to be moving, was a wonder to watch. Afterwards at the medal ceremony the stadium was filled with noise as the whole crowd, led by Paul McCartney sang Hey Jude. It could have been a little bit cheesy but it wasn't. It was joyous. Community, celebration, connection between crowd and performer - everything was there.

Also there was a moment that showed something of the person within an athlete. Jo Rowsell took off her helmet to reveal a mostly bald head with a couple of tufts of hair. From the age of 10 she has suffered from alopecia and has had to grow into womanhood without one of the great signifiers of beauty (and to see what an important signifier hair is you only have to look  at the lustrous lock in any shampoo advert). It must have been  difficult but according to this article  cycling has helped build her confidence.  Wonderful - but it still takes a deal of courage to show the whole world your bald head and I am sure every alopecia sufferer will walk a little bit taller after having seen it.

That would have been enough for a normal day but there was much more. On the water there were two greatly contrasting rowing moments. One was an expression of joy and disbelief on the face of Katherine Copeland after she and Sophie Hosking had won their race. Wide eyed and opened mouthed she looked as if she could not believe it but in her expression she showed all the tumultuous emotion of sporting triumph and the reason people put themselves through so much. The other moment was the obverse - the pain of defeat.  Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase battled with the Danish crew and lost by the slimmest of margins to win silver rather than gold. They were so exhausted afterwards that they had almost to be lifted out of the boat and to give an interview to TV they had to prop each other up. They were distraught and the only thing they could think of saying was to apologise to everybody for letting them down. They had let nobody down. They had been heroic but because they did not meet their own target they felt the burden of the whole team upon their shoulders. (read Zac Purchase's account here).The interview went no further there was nothing anybody could say as everybody was moved and Steve Redgrave gently helped them away to a place of privacy where they could recover. If you ever wanted to see how people can invest every fibre of their being in a quest and what that means at the end, you only have to watch that clip. 

And so onto the evening in the athletics stadium where there was nothing but joy. Obviously winning three gold medals in one night is something that the GB team never do. It is impossible but somehow it happened. Not only that it happened to the people you would want. Greg Rutherford, the slightly surprising winner of the long jump has had to endure many ups and downs, injuries and a failure at Beijing that made him feel like giving up, so to eventually come out on top is one of those stories you want to happen. Nothing more can be said about Jessica Ennis and the gracious, sunny way she has born the burden of being the face of the games and the top medal hope. As for Mo Farah - well I just shared the joy and excitement of the BBC commentators.

But later there was something just as significant. At the press conference some numpty journalist asked whether he would have preferred to represent Somali rather than GB Mo Farah replied  "Look mate, this is my country. This is where I grew up, this is where I started life. This is my country and when I put on my Great Britain vest I'm proud. I'm very proud...To win the Olympics in the place you grew up and went to school just means so much to me."

Stick that in your pipe all those miserable people who complained about the multiculturalism of the opening ceremony. This is who we now are: a nation of many peoples and it is great that through the Olympics we have come together to celebrate it

Making the Most of Our own Belief Systems

I love the Olympics with its mixture of minority sports that you never think of at any other time to stories of individual heroism, or even tiny little factoids about individual competitors. For example it gives me disproportionate pleasure to know that Christine Ohuruogu is the world's fastest linguist – yes she has a linguistics degree and her final year dissertation was on swear words. That was before I saw her race and then the way she won gold just made it better.

The story that has fascinated me most is the dominance of the GB cycle team not only because it is a story of individual prowess but also because it is an example of how to create a structure and environment for success. In every aspect they have been the most organised and professional team, with full attention paid to every detail (There is a good summary of the programme for success here and a full chronology of the pathway from the shambolic to the supreme here.).

I have been particularly interested in the role of the psychiatrist Steve Peters. Most of the people who help athletes with their mental approach call themselves sports psychologists but Peters is different as his background is forensic psychiatry and he has worked at Rampton Hospital. I don't know if that makes a difference but his practice seems to be rooted in the one-to- one approach of psychiatry. He does not offers an easy formula for success; there are no tips for a quick fix, instead he works to build a foundation of understanding so the the athletes knows how their minds work. This can take 12 months and is followed by understanding how other people think and then communication.

A good article about this works with the cycling team was published in the Guardian in May. This quote gives the practical basis of his approach:

"You walk in with a belief system, ideas, behaviour that you apply to sport. Some people can do very well, but most of us aren't sure how to use the equipment. I say 'This is how your mind works, this is how you get strength in certain areas, this is how to build up on the weak points, this is the skills base you need'."

The thing is that you do not have to be Chris Hoy or Victoria Pendleton for this to be appropriate - it applies to all of us plodding along, trying to get the best from our running. We all need to know how we gain strength and ways to combat our weaknesses. The knowledge that this is a skill that can be learnt is tremendously encouraging. Similarly the underlying philosophy of the cycling set-up can encourage everybody:

Where the British cycling team has broken new ground is in taking a bottom-up, athlete-centred approach, and here Peters has been key. "The athlete has to own their own programme," he says. "They formulate what they are doing." Rather than the coach telling the cyclist how he or she should be training, the athlete is strongly encouraged to take the coach's advice and take the final decision according to rules that have been previously agreed on, with the coach viewed more as an expert adviser. Commitment, ownership, responsibility and personal excellence are the watchwords, and again the nuance is important. "We would like excellence. What we ask for is personal excellence, which is very different."

So many of the people out there running on the roads and certainly all the people who write the blogs I read have that quality. They are taking responsibility for themselves and aiming for personal excellence, with their own criteria of what excellence means . We might not have all the resources at our disposal, no team of supporting experts but by exchanging experiences we can gain strength. If someone does something that sounds good we can try to apply it ourselves. In this respect its a bit like this quote from George Sheehan:

My advice to these advisors would be. "Do not tell me what to do, tell me what you do. Do not tell me what is good for me, tell me what is good for you. If, at the same time you reveal the you in me, if you become a mirror to my inner self, then you have made a listener and a friend."