Is Competitive Elite Sport Really Morally Corrupt

What is it about?

It is sometimes argued that competitive elite sport reduces the humanity of athletes by turning them into beings whose sole value is determined in relation to other. It has also been argued that competitive elite sports is motivated by a celebration of the genetically superior and humiliation of the weak. I defend competitive elite sport against these charges. It is simply untrue that elite athletes are typically driven only by a need to win competitions. Athletes typically do not last long enough in the sport to become winners if they don't like doing the sport for its own sake. Competitive elite sport is an exploration of the physical and mental demands of sport, and competitions are the best way to push yourself to your own physical and mental limits. Regarding the claim that the purpose of competitive elite sports is to celebrate the genetically superior and humiliate the weak, this too is arguably false. The claim is based on the mistaken view that all athletes train in the same way and that therefore it is only the genetic advantages that decide whether you become a winner. Anyone familiar with sport knows that as a matter of fact nobody trains the same and that everyone is looking for an advantage by improving the training. The claim that losers are humiliated is falsified partly by the fact that everyone loves the underdog, even when they don't actually win, and partly by the prevailing mutual respect among athletes whether they win or lose. Finally, the paper explores a number of consequences of the different views of sport with respect to the problem of intersexual women.

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Why is it important?

The question of whether competitive elite sports is morally good or bad is important because it is a phenomenon that has a central role in human society. What this paper brings to the issue is partly the fact that most writers have focused on team sports while this paper focusses on individual sports. Also, the fact that the author has an inside perspective on competitive elite sports as a former olympian, brings a contrast to the views of critical authors that only have an onlookers perspective on competitive elite sports.