The life of an olympic athlete

Sarah Robles / Otagenki.com

Olympic athletes have a rigorous training schedule and dedicate their lives to their sport, but what is not as immediately obvious are their financial struggles. Often, Olympic athletes depend solely on the funding of their sponsors to get through their training, leaving them to find another source of income to provide for their basic needs.

“Heading into the Sochi Games, some of the USA’s elite athletes live below the poverty line,” Kelly Whiteside wrote  in a 2013 USA TODAY Sports article.

Sarah Robles, an olympic weight lifter, is one of the many Olympic athletes that struggled economically through most of her Olympic training. Her priorities shifted from funding her Olympic journey to supporting her basic needs of food and shelter. The only way she was able to continue her training was through donations made by people close to her, and her motivation for success.

Olympic athletes are faced with the problem of their life after sport. An Olympic athlete dedicates many years of his/her life to training, leaving many without a plan of what to do next. After retiring from a sport, there is a major adjustment to make from practicing everyday, to pursuing a job and not being able to play their sport as much.

“For world-class athletes who have focused their lives on training, their next Olympian task has no direct path: Readjusting to a routine outside competitive sports and creating a new life that may or may not involve the limelight,” Raissa Ioussouf wrote in a 2012 article for the Huffington Post.

Olympians have to find something else to occupy their time with after they retire, since they do not exercise as much. Before their Olympic careers end, Olympians have very busy schedules. In preparation for big competitions such as the Olympics, Olympians commit most of their day to training and leading a healthy life. Aside from just playing their sport, Olympians have a lot of other training to do such as weightlifting and conditioning to stay fit for their season.

“I usually swim, bike and run every day and do strength and conditioning work two or three days a week.” Helen Jenkins, an Olympic triathlete, said in a 2012 Sport Wale article.

Part of what makes Olympians so valuable and admirable is that they do what is hard for many people by going beyond what is thought humans can do. Although what the Olympians achieve is apparent, what is less clear, is the amount of time they spend training for their success and the difficulty it takes to get there.

Written by Asimina Hamakiotes and Harry Smith

The dangers of college football

After hearing the Intelligence Squared debate on banning college football on Tuesday May 8 , most people chose the side to ban college football. The choices of the majority are certainly correct, for college football has many problems and should be removed from all universities.

It is true college football allows the players to gain a scholarship into their dream school, but the amount of students that get a scholarship are relatively low. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, 1.1 million high-school students play football, yet only 66,000 is ready for college football. On top of that, out of the 66,000 ready for football, only 19,500 get a scholarship. 

Even if a scholarship is granted, college football also has the danger of putting students at risk of many physical injuries and brain damage. Excessive brain damage can lead to problems like Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). CTE can lead to poor judgements, unsteady gait, slower muscle movements, and hearing loss. 

Besides the issues of player injuries, financial problems are also misled and used incorrectly. Coaches of college football teams are being overpaid in this terrible economy. USA Today reports at least 64 coaches are making more than a million dollars. Earning this huge amount of money is insane because the coaches aren’t the one entering the field and taking all the injuries. It’s even more ironic when some of the coaches earn more money than the college president. 

Along with coaches getting excessive money,  the amount of money spent on the football is abundant as well. The football field construction cost mainly came from taxpayers. One-hundred-forty million dollars were used for TCF Bank Stadium, 196 million dollars were used on Heinz Field, and also 181 million dollars were used on Lincoln Financial Field. The money spent for the stadium can definitely help out with the 46 million people in the USA that live below the poverty line.

College football is only meant to be an entertainment, yet it’s ready to influence the economy  of a nation and the education of many students. Therefore, it is encouraged for everyone to step up and speak up to help end this dangerous college sport.