Forgotten quote about all men thinking they could medal at the Olympics
July 21, 2022 4:57 AM Subscribe
Some years ago, I read a quote to the effect of "Up to age 30 or so, all men believe that if they worked really hard and devoted themselves 100%, they could compete in the Olympics." I am pretty confident that it was part of the narration in a novel. Google is not helpful, or at least I am not able to word the query well. Many thanks in advance for anyone who can help.
Best answer: How badass Raven is in Snow Crash?
posted by sagc at 5:10 AM on July 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by sagc at 5:10 AM on July 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
There's also this 2019 poll that shows that 1 in 8 men think they can beat Serena Williams:
https://www.thecut.com/2019/07/poll-1-in-8-men-think-they-can-beat-serena-williams.html
posted by scolbath at 5:28 AM on July 21, 2022 [12 favorites]
https://www.thecut.com/2019/07/poll-1-in-8-men-think-they-can-beat-serena-williams.html
posted by scolbath at 5:28 AM on July 21, 2022 [12 favorites]
I asked virtually the same question 13 years ago!
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:55 AM on July 21, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:55 AM on July 21, 2022 [4 favorites]
I don't know the source of the quote, but I'm reminded of a very good article by a journalist who decides to spend a year training to see if he can hit a home run in a major league park.
This pursuit wasn’t about me as much as it was about what’s possible for any of us. Those athletic feats we watch the pros execute effortlessly: How hard are they for a layperson to pull off? How much work is required to even come close to landing a triple Axel? If your tax-attorney neighbor trained hard enough, could she hit a contested three in a WNBA game? Could she hit five?
posted by hovey at 6:37 AM on July 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
This pursuit wasn’t about me as much as it was about what’s possible for any of us. Those athletic feats we watch the pros execute effortlessly: How hard are they for a layperson to pull off? How much work is required to even come close to landing a triple Axel? If your tax-attorney neighbor trained hard enough, could she hit a contested three in a WNBA game? Could she hit five?
posted by hovey at 6:37 AM on July 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
I've heard this idea with specific reference to being James Bond but cannot now find the quotation.
posted by gauche at 6:37 AM on July 21, 2022
posted by gauche at 6:37 AM on July 21, 2022
Response by poster: Thanks EndsOfInvention and sagc! This is definitely the quote.
posted by nanny's striped stocking at 7:22 AM on July 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by nanny's striped stocking at 7:22 AM on July 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
Is it that incorrect though? I mean, the Olympics has lots of niche sports that basically just require you to practice them a lot. The main problem is the payoff for the Olympics isn't actually that much and endlessly practicing a sport from age 5 on isn't very much fun. My dad's sister qualified for the Olympics in a sprinting sport. She noped out of that pretty quickly because constantly training sucked.
Also when people hear 'professional athlete', they automatically assume Lebron James or Tom Brady, or whomever they think is the best of the best. My high school football coach played for the Cleveland Browns. I have co-workers who were professional athletes. They aren't all the most amazing at sports and unimaginably large.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:52 AM on July 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
Also when people hear 'professional athlete', they automatically assume Lebron James or Tom Brady, or whomever they think is the best of the best. My high school football coach played for the Cleveland Browns. I have co-workers who were professional athletes. They aren't all the most amazing at sports and unimaginably large.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:52 AM on July 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
the Olympics has lots of niche sports that basically just require you to practice them a lot.
So the question is whether you're talking "Olympic caliber" or "Olympic qualifying." For example, actress Geena Davis took up archery and became quite competitive, but being the 24th best archer in the country, as she was, still leaves you far from the Olympics.
I have co-workers who were professional athletes. They aren't all the most amazing
Many professional athletes beg to differ: Why the Worst N.B.A. Player Is (Probably) Still Better Than You: There’s confidence, and then there’s thinking you can beat one of the 500 (N.B.A.) or 150 (W.N.B.A.) best basketball players in the world..
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:28 AM on July 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
So the question is whether you're talking "Olympic caliber" or "Olympic qualifying." For example, actress Geena Davis took up archery and became quite competitive, but being the 24th best archer in the country, as she was, still leaves you far from the Olympics.
I have co-workers who were professional athletes. They aren't all the most amazing
Many professional athletes beg to differ: Why the Worst N.B.A. Player Is (Probably) Still Better Than You: There’s confidence, and then there’s thinking you can beat one of the 500 (N.B.A.) or 150 (W.N.B.A.) best basketball players in the world..
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:28 AM on July 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
Is it that incorrect though?
Probably. There is a huge gap between the best amateur and the worst pro, partially from training but also biological — a slightly longer tendon, a higher maximum muscle strength, etc. Humans are simply not born physically equal. Professional sports are at least in part a celebration of successful mutations.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:53 AM on July 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
Probably. There is a huge gap between the best amateur and the worst pro, partially from training but also biological — a slightly longer tendon, a higher maximum muscle strength, etc. Humans are simply not born physically equal. Professional sports are at least in part a celebration of successful mutations.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:53 AM on July 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
1 in 8 men think they can beat Serena Williams ...
According to the link - not "beat", but "score a point". Most people could do it I suspect, as she would probably laugh so hard playing them, she'd double-fault.
posted by Dotty at 8:59 AM on July 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
According to the link - not "beat", but "score a point". Most people could do it I suspect, as she would probably laugh so hard playing them, she'd double-fault.
posted by Dotty at 8:59 AM on July 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
1 in 8 men think they can beat Serena Williams ...
Discussed on the blue in 2019. Includes a video of Serena hitting against some dudes (who are not pro tennis players).
posted by BlueTongueLizard at 9:53 AM on July 21, 2022
Discussed on the blue in 2019. Includes a video of Serena hitting against some dudes (who are not pro tennis players).
posted by BlueTongueLizard at 9:53 AM on July 21, 2022
Up until Eddie The Eagle Edwards you could compete in an Olympic event as long as you could find the right event. And then he did. And then they changed the rules. That's the problem with the IOC, no sense of fun. But an enormous appetite for people's money.
posted by Grangousier at 10:51 AM on July 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Grangousier at 10:51 AM on July 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
Probably. There is a huge gap between the best amateur and the worst pro, partially from training but also biological — a slightly longer tendon, a higher maximum muscle strength, etc.
How about curling or equestrian dressage or equestrian jumping, both of which basically just require you to be rich enough and passionate enough about horses to practice for 15 years.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:44 AM on July 21, 2022
I mean, the Olympics has lots of niche sports that basically just require you to practice them a lot.
Really? There are definitely some lesser known sports with few active participants, but the very best at just about anything are really good.
Your best best is probably in a niche team sport (handball seems like a good candidate) and then work hard at a less popular position and be really, super fun and cool so that everyone likes you. For the more introverted, pick a sport with the loosest qualifying standards and move to a country that doesn't have many athletes in that sport (pro tip: try for the winter Olympics in a warm country. That is what Paul Bragiel did, although he didn't actually manage to qualify).
I think "lots" is probably overstating it.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 3:45 PM on July 21, 2022
Really? There are definitely some lesser known sports with few active participants, but the very best at just about anything are really good.
Your best best is probably in a niche team sport (handball seems like a good candidate) and then work hard at a less popular position and be really, super fun and cool so that everyone likes you. For the more introverted, pick a sport with the loosest qualifying standards and move to a country that doesn't have many athletes in that sport (pro tip: try for the winter Olympics in a warm country. That is what Paul Bragiel did, although he didn't actually manage to qualify).
I think "lots" is probably overstating it.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 3:45 PM on July 21, 2022
How about curling or equestrian dressage or equestrian jumping, both of which basically just require you to be rich enough and passionate enough about horses to practice for 15 years.
Well I think you sorely underestimate the physicality of all of those, but we can skip that to come to the point: all of those sports have prodigies, people who’s innate abilities far outstrip any training they’ve been given. You could argue that despite their advantage they reach some maximum skill level that is uniformly shared among everyone and that all top competition is settled by luck, but I think you’d be hard pressed to find a curler or equestrian that would agree.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 4:53 PM on July 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
Well I think you sorely underestimate the physicality of all of those, but we can skip that to come to the point: all of those sports have prodigies, people who’s innate abilities far outstrip any training they’ve been given. You could argue that despite their advantage they reach some maximum skill level that is uniformly shared among everyone and that all top competition is settled by luck, but I think you’d be hard pressed to find a curler or equestrian that would agree.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 4:53 PM on July 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Until a man is twenty-five, he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world. If I moved to a martial-arts monastery in China and studied real hard for ten years. If my family was wiped out by Colombian drug dealers and I swore myself to revenge. If I got a fatal disease, had one year to live, and devoted it to wiping out street crime. If I just dropped out and devoted my life to being bad.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:08 AM on July 21, 2022 [29 favorites]