one of the reasons why superstar athletes still in their prime might use rec. drug(s)

[joe_papp]

From VeloNation:

With all of his victories though, even joining the likes of Museeuw and Eric Leman on three Ronde’s, his third victory does not compare to his first; where his excitement was such that he committed the cardinal sin of forgetting to zip up his jersey to show off his sponsor’s name.

“I am super happy for me and the team,” said Boonen. “But when I compare this happiness with the happiness for the victory I had the first time, it isn't the same. That was really a great moment and that feeling is something that has never come back.”

This is just an anecdotal observation and not meant to imply or suggest any great pattern or insight, but...

 

[hrotha]

I'd say it has more to do with the fact that they're young, rich people.

 

[joe_papp]

I'd say it has more to do with the fact that they're young, rich people.

ha you don't take a recreational drug w/o hoping to experience a new - or recapture an old - feeling! imo...

 

[131313]

Umm...welcome to life, Joe!

If this were something that drove people to recreational drugs, then pretty much the entirety of the world's population would be using drugs! I'm not judging, mind you. If folks want to use recreational drugs, that's there business as long as that use doesn't end up impacting those around them or society as whole (sometimes it doesn't, often times it does).

Things are just never all that exciting when you actually attain them. It's the struggle for achievement that really matters, and it's also the reason why most people who achieve things through doping will never really have much of a level of satisfaction with their achievements. You're old enough, you should realize this by now!

When I won my first pretty big bike race I got to stand on a podium, reporters there and all, realizing I just beaten some of your former customers (and had done so clean, just to keep this clinic-relevant), all I remember was being really underwhelmed. "Wow, this is it? My life doesn't feel any different at all?". Obviously, the Ronde is a bigger deal than any race I've won, but I imagine the emotions are basically the same. You still get up and brush your teeth in the morning, just like anyone else. You've just won a bike race. And if you attach a great importance to your athletic achievements, you're just bound to be disappointed with your life. Because even winning isn't really all that exciting. It's much more about enjoying the journey along the way, at least for me.

 

[Caruut]

ha you don't take a recreational drug w/o hoping to experience a new - or recapture an old - feeling! imo...

No, but a lot of rich older people are rich because over a long period, they have been intelligent people with good financial sense, or had parents teaching them financial sense. Rich young people tend to have it thrust upon them comparatively suddenly, and with less appreciation of the difficulties of looking after a lot of money.

Rich sports stars and pop stars quickly find themselves surrounded by people looking to make money off them - it's not like Boonen is the only twenty-something to ever find himself with a noseful of the white stuff. In fact, I might go so far as to say that given their wealth, age and status, sports stars have a remarkably low level of drug usage.

 

[hfer07]

wow-So imagine every time in life you become "first timer" on anything, you get to hook on drugs........

for athletes IMO the usage of recreational is about is to break away from the relentless discipline & sacrifices that the body & mind have to endure during training & racing all together throughout the year-some might have control over it & can enjoy it, while others just get addicted to it & that's where careers are ruined. Apart from that- the money factor & fame combined with the wrong people contribute to this activitie-but - all comes down to personal principles & convictions.

 

[MarkvW]

Is this thread market research?

 

[joe_papp]

Is this thread market research?

no it was just an obviously-successful attempt to elicit another one of your stinking snarky comments.

 

[richtea]

I barely know anyone here who doesn't enjoy a bit of beak now and again. Just take a look at the queues for the bathroom in the bars in Shoreditch.

 

[ak-zaaf]

I don't think he was chasing the victory dragon then.

There is a good reason people use recreational drugs: they work.

 

[DirtyWorks]

No, but a lot of rich older people are rich because over a long period, they have been intelligent people with good financial sense, or had parents teaching them financial sense.

No. Most of the time it is the result of either gaming the system or being incrementally richer than the last generation. Like the clean bike racer who wins one occasionally, sudden wealth is the exception, not the norm.

That's an important insight Joe. That high is one of the reasons some people seek drugs. Note how Boonen's oriented around the result to the point the win is practically a disappointment.

131313's view is far more functional. If you weren't taught it though, how would you know? And unlearning the other is plain hard!

 

[blackcat]

Things are just never all that exciting when you actually attain them. It's the struggle for achievement that really matters, and it's also the reason why most people who achieve things through doping will never really have much of a level of satisfaction with their achievements. You're old enough, you should realize this by now!

Oscar Wilde “There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.”

 

[joe_papp]

No. Most of the time it is the result of either gaming the system or being incrementally richer than the last generation. Like the clean bike racer who wins one occasionally, sudden wealth is the exception, not the norm.

That's an important insight Joe. That high is one of the reasons some people seek drugs. Note how Boonen's oriented around the result to the point the win is practically a disappointment.

131313's view is far more functional. If you weren't taught it though, how would you know? And unlearning the other is plain hard!

Thanks for your feedback and follow-up.

...Things are just never all that exciting when you actually attain them. It's the struggle for achievement that really matters, and it's also the reason why most people who achieve things through doping will never really have much of a level of satisfaction with their achievements...

To be fair to the athlete, I think what I was trying to highlight was the fact that, having earned that first victory after all of the hard work done to make it possible, repeating the achievement in following years can be a a let-down and no matter how hard he trains on the bike he won't recapture the same positive feelings (or the intensity of feeling) just by winning a second, third or fourth time. And the desire to again experience the overwhelmingly positive sensation of the win can lead one to seek it out through other means.

I also disagree to some degree w/ the claim that an athlete who is doping doesn't derive satisfaction from their achievements (although I realize you qualified it by saying "most people"). When you believe that by doping you're only leveling the playing field, you're still free to attribute much of your win to your own effort. And then even the athlete who knows that by doping he's obtained an unfair advantage can derive a twisted satisfaction from having done something his competitors were otherwise unwilling or unable to do.

Of course ultimately one can't/shouldn't make broad generalities but I'm just making conversation. Cheers.