8 d. ago
Fall and redemption of Becker and Wiggins shows sporting glory does not deliver purpose or meaning | Cath Bishop
Books by former champions demonstrate powerfully that we should not accept abuse and suffering as ‘the price of winning’. Sport must do moreViewed through one end of the lens, the two new autobiographies from the sporting legends Boris Becker and Bradley Wiggins might seem like classic tales of the downfalls of two deeply flawed heroes who then claw their way back to redemption. But viewed through the other end of the lens, we see troubling portrayals of an extremely inhumane and, at times, unsafe world of sport where talent is no saving grace, in fact it’s more of a liability.There are striking similarities between the stories of two different characters, sports, countries and generations. Both went bankrupt. Both made bad choices and admit their agency in their own demise. Both hit rock bottom and found themselves stripped bare of all dignity, be it in a prison cell or snorting cocaine in a toilet. Becker was convicted by a British court on four counts out of 24 and ended up in pr...
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