Sunday, July 22, 2012

Bradley Wiggins wins the Tour de France, maybe

The cyclist and cycling fan in me is tickled by the fact that Bradley Wiggins has won this year's Tour de France - the first Briton to ever pull off the feat. The cynical realist in me is saddened that we need to append a "for now" to his victory.

Nothing against him, of course. But with the sport - indeed, all sport - wracked by drug-fuelled controversy that's led to riders being stripped of their titles,others being hauled off the course after testing positive, and still others being dogged by accusations for virtually their entire careers, every victory now seems to come with an asterisk until the athlete in question proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he/she competed clean.

As the Olympic games in London get set to open under a phalanx of anti-doping protocols that make a manned space launch seem simple by comparison, I have to wonder if we still understand and appreciate what the spirit of true competition really is, and why we compete in the first place. Something tells me we may have lost focus on the greater good of fair competition.

Your turn: Thoughts?

1 comment:

Kalei's Best Friend said...

There is so much stress put upon the contestants, countries to win.. to be #1... Granted, it is the competition to be #1... One can blame the advancement of pharmaceuticals,greed, even the media is involved, right? and yes it is sad that the desperation to be #1 boils down to cheating... and finding desperate measures to achieve it... But, I think its the contestants who compete honestly and w/sweat.. btw there is nothing wrong w/being #2 or#3... just the fact they made it into the competition is something to be proud of...