Olympic heroes? Does sporting excellence really equal heroism?

Question

Obviously they're the best in their field and train as hard as possible to get where they are but is it really heroic? What about people that endanger their lives for the good of others? Surely that's true bravery!

Answer 1

Hi

your question is really smart and good one...hero is not variable meaning change according to the situation & there isnt types of heros

its means one thing during all ages ..and its only one no many types

a hero who does  :

the good for others with no return ..whether that return as.. payment(money) ..or.. praise from people.. cause some  do good  only  cause they like to hear compliments ..they become addicted to hear others saying good things about them ..and if someone criticize them they become angry and stop helping other which obivously mean that they were doing it only coz they like people  praise them they show of like some show of in their beauty or how much their smart or have money  not cuase they doing for people in need  and also hero dosent ask for money cause hero who sacrifice his time life for others so those who

good in sport they are not hero the get money and if they dont get paied they will upset cause they do what they doing only for their personal interests they doing their job not heorism actions  not sacrifice real heros who are sacrifice their life and their names not mentioned like those in army how many of them got killed and how many of them are right now in battle field with no celebrating or mention

them or have fans or being in luxurious hotel and all kinds of services

like the athelete and celebrites they are in middle of clashes and the

facing death in every second protecting the life the country and no one know them thier the annonymous soldiers their the heros without their sacrifices it wouldnt be sport from the begining

Answer 2

They have received tax and lottery money to train.  Now they are saying give them honours and medals.  Time for a little reality here surely!!

I love sport and it was long overdue for sport to receive more money but it does now seem as though the government is going over the top and that it is more about politics than sport!

If Brown wants to be seen as supporting sport perhaps he would release the money promised for sport but not yet released and guarantee that funding will stay in place until the next olympics - because we all know from bitter experience what the government promises and what it delivers are totally different things!!

Answer 3

i couldn't agree more.... there is nothing heroic about it....

don't get me wrong winning the world cup etc is a fantastic achievement

but i am sickened to hear christine ohuruogu referred to as a hero for 2 reasons

(a) she was banned for failing to take a drugs test on 3 occasions

(b) after the ban she said she would run for another country

what a british "hero" she is  

Answer 4

Another example of language warp. The term hero applies to those who take risks to save the lives of others and not to those who merely glorify themselves.

Answer 5

well it all depends on your definition of hero. a hero could be someone with super powers or your parents or a police man. olympians could be considered as heroes, someone to look up to, never giving up and trying their best. =] or maybe people confuse it with role models but i guess they're the same thing in this situation

Answer 6

They are heroes to me. They represent me in sport and sport is like war where nobody gets killed. I'm proud of them and they inspire me to do exercise!

Answer 7

"Hero" is a term that has been thrown about so much that it has lost it's true meaning.  Sports are fun to watch, but none of the participants ever made me believe that they were heroes.

Answer 8

Nice Q...i would think the difference is that being heroic is when you sacrifice yourself for another...while in sporting excellence you do it for yourself...