Eugene Bingham: Olympians of ordinary life deserve medals too

COMMENT

If sport is a study of the human spirit under extreme pressure, the Olympics is one hell of a microscope.

For 16 days, the world's finest athletes subject themselves to absurd pressures and strains.

Champions deal with the stress. Some suck it in like oxygen. Others choke. They are, after all, human.

While it may seem best to lay to rest the story of Soulan Pownceby, the New Zealand boxer whose criminal past stirred such controversy before Athens, there was something he said at a press conference called by New Zealand team managers that struck me hard.

The New Zealand team hold their press conferences an hour away from the Olympic heart in the leafy Athens suburb of Kifissia.

It's a bit of a drag getting there, but it is a welcome chance to escape the Olympic circus for a while and remember the real world. Some athletes should take the trip.

Pownceby failed in his Olympic debut on Saturday. The way he described it, he suffered some kind of mind block when he entered the ring.

"Beforehand I was punching very hard and everything went to plan. But I went out there and it was a different story," he said.

It's what happens to some athletes under the pressure of the Olympics, and in no way would I question or slate Pownceby for it.

It was something else he said that struck me.

Talking about how much he was enjoying being around the New Zealand team, he said: "Athletes are different to other people because a lot of people just see problems, whereas athletes try and find solutions so they can succeed.

"We all have problems along the way to achieving our performances and many of us have lost before. We've experienced loss and we just work through those problems in order to succeed."

The comment smacked of superiority. Unfortunately, it is an attitude he is not alone in holding, so maybe it's unfair to single him out. There are others who need a sharp reminder too.

Pownceby turned his life around and became an Olympian - undeniably a big achievement.

But there are many people worthy of recognition for the way they have recovered from terrible situations. They may not be lining up in Athens, but they have taken steps more laudable than any Olympian.

Children with disabilities who play and learn alongside able-bodied kids. Women who flee domestic violence and rebuild their lives to give their children hope.

Athletes are not different from other people. We admire them because they are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And sometimes, they fail - like all of us.