Athlete strops - passion or petulance?

thirtyfoot

I've noticed a couple of strops in recent weeks by Irish athletes. There has always been such strops and its nothing new.

One case was a thrower, the competition didn't go to plan and the athlete threw something while walking away from the ring. Another was the end of a middle distance race where again the athlete didn't achieve what they wanted and stormed off the track, ripped off their vest and started hitting it against a wall. Exciting stuff.

Is it passion and really caring or is it petulance. Interestingly both competitions were won by young athletes who in winning had exemplary behaviour and won under massive pressure. Is this the kind of passion we should be striving for as in an massive internal drive (and passion) that I WILL NOT BE BEATEN as opposed to external and even aggressive showings of emotion.

Personally if I was coach to an athlete who showed excessive and unsportsmanlike conduct after a race I would rip them apart and not tolerate it, more so than if they competed poorly.

On the other side is excessive celebrating a win bad. I don't think so. Take Jordan McNamara on Friday when he ran his 3:56 mile win. He showboated like Bolt (well after the line) but it was classy and fun and the crowd loved it. Was Campbell's airplane thingy at Nationals a few years back over the top? I think excessiveness in winning is fine, but in losing is not.

woodchopper

thirtyfoot wrote: »

I've noticed a couple of strops in recent weeks by Irish athletes. There has always been such strops and its nothing new.


Personally if I was coach to an athlete who showed excessive and unsportsmanlike conduct after a race I would rip them apart and not tolerate it, more so than if they competed poorly.

If I were their coach and they raced bad, I would hang my head in shame as it is you who is responsible for their physical performance. If you cant stand the heat get out of the kitchen, rather than passing the blame onto the athlete. Also if the athlete continues to race bad then they will run away from the useless coach

RoyMcC

It's petulance and it's nothing more than attention-seeking. Disappointment is nothing new to any athlete and they have long since learnt how to deal with it. By all means go and slump in a corner and have a little cry (after shaking hands) but don't tell the world about it.

One of the things that endeared me to athletics is the graceful way competitors win and lose. To my mind it helps in dealing with the harder battle of life.

A bit of exuberance in winning is great as long as due respect is shown to one's beaten rivals.

gerard65

'If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;'

Would hate to see the soccer behaviour starting in Athletics. The bull.... of kissing badges on the shirt, or rolling over and shooting your fingers like guns, etc. Any athlete who started that should be giving a foot in the hole by their coach.

thirtyfoot

woodchopper wrote: »

If I were their coach and they raced bad, I would hang my head in shame as it is you who is responsible for their physical performance. If you cant stand the heat get out of the kitchen, rather than passing the blame onto the athlete.

When you coach (if you don't already) then you will spend much of your time in a sullen shameful position as you will have as many bad days as good days if that's to be your philiosophy

Not sure what the context of that is here though, are you saying athletes will have a strop because they feel their coach is passing on the blame? My point on this initially regarding which is worse, a bad performance or a childish strop would have nothing to do with blame games or feeling the pressure, it would be more to do with lack of respect from an athlete or they being a scumbag. Thankfully have never had to cross that bridge as a coach as luckily the athletes I coach have a bit of class about them:cool:

robinph

Most people loose most races.

The rest of us manage to loose without throwing a strop.

thirtyfoot

RoyMcC wrote: »

One of the things that endeared me to athletics is the graceful way competitors win and lose. To my mind it helps in dealing with the harder battle of life.

Very true Roy, very true. The field is very much like this especially where competitors can seem to have a great bond yet be fierce rivals. That's why the thrower strop seemed well out of order.

Yes it does prepare you for battles elsewhere. Finishing and losing a race, graciously shaking a hand while knowing you might not be able to right the wrong for 12 months or even 4 years. That takes patience and focus and belief to keeping on keeping on.

myflipflops

There's a couple of ways to look at it. A lot depends on the athlete and the reaction. People can get very frustrated when months (and years) or preparation fails to come together on the day. It can be difficult to stop yourself venting at times when this happens. I think as long as you aren't being disrespecful to other athletes or breaking rules, the odd outburst or exuberant celebration is allowed.

Sometimes the passion/petulance creates classic moments too.

One of the most entertaining things I've witnessed at a track event in Ireland is the national 1500 a few years ago when James Nolan made a celebratory gesture with one lap to go against Gareth Turnbull. Turnbull went on to hold him off up the the home straight for the win. Nolan bolted straight off the track and directly into the changing rooms under the stand. The WOMENS changing rooms!!