Crack Athletes

The professional peloton and a host of other sports, like rugby, swimming and croquet have all had cocaine positives. The problem lies in the nature of a full time crack athlete. The very nature of an athlete is obsessive/compulsive.

I haven’t taken cocaine. What for anyway.

My life has tumultuous highs and a few stupefying lows (not that I am bipolar) without any mind inducing drugs. Just two nights ago I stared at my ceiling for 4 hours because of mundane work stress and personal strife. On the way back home after finishing a 100km race on Sunday I rejoiced while listening to a Killer’s song. I hit an endorphin rush. No drugs required.

The problem is the professional athlete can’t handle the attention.

Sometimes the spotlight shines so bright that you can see the pores of the athletes’ skin. Other times the athlete is cycling for six hours in a basement in Chicago hidden from the media. Just take that bizarre cycling caricature – Ricardo Ricco. Only cycling with its slavish commitment and Spartan existence can conjure up an antagonist of his ilk. He was like a black-and-white Hollywood constructed Charlie Chaplin nemesis.

An unworldy adjustment to fans and media attention of the Tour de France kind is hard to handle. Damiano Cunego still lived with his parents up until a few years ago – like most Italian pros - even after he won the Giro. For goodness sake, grown Italian men need to have carnal relations in cars in alleyways.

Forget having WADA and Anne Griper. We need psychoanalysts of the Freudian kind nursing our fragile cyclists. Forget the whereabouts program and biological passports. What we need is Freud.


Wait a minute. I think he had a coke habit too.