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

MLB unfollows Twitter with new policy

Major League Baseball has been primitive in the use of modern technology. Ever since the evolution of videos on the Internet, MLB has banned all full game videos online. For example, nobody can post a MLB playoff game on YouTube. Another new policy has come out, taking a strike at social media use.

“All players will be subject to a policy governing the use of Social Media,” said an anonymous MLB reporter.

Many people agree that social media will lead players to say the wrong thing. After a controversial homerun or ejection, players might look to Facebook and Twitter as their personal diaries.

One notorious tweeter is the former Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. Guillen was ejected for arguing with umpire, Todd Tichenor, at home plate. Shortly after the ejection, Guillen tweeted, "This one is going to cost me a lot of money this is pathetic." He then sent, "Today a tough guy show up at Yankee Stadium." He was apparently referring to Tichenor.

This is a prime example of players and managers getting crazy and typing before they think. Another eccentric baseball player is Brian Wilson. Wilson went to Twitter to talk about his weekend by talking about his encounter with overaggressive men in Scottsdale at 1am. After this tweet, MLB officials kept close watch of Brian Wilson’s Twitter account.

With the MLB monitoring off the wall players and managers, fans shouldn’t be angry yet. There might be stricter policies because players are getting more reckless in their use of social media.