Reproduzo o texto de um dos meus ídolos desportivos, Chris “Macca” McCormack.
Age is just a number
«In any sport at the
professional level, as you begin to move up in years, the discussion
shifts from your results to the question of longevity. Now, in my 21st
year as a professional racer, it is a hot topic. I never considered age
as a barrier to performance. You start off as a junior athlete and then
move into your rookie professional years, then you continue on your
journey through your “golden years” before suddenly arriving at a point
where outside questions move from “how did you do?” in the race to “how
long is it possible to keep doing it?” For the athlete, nothing really
changes. You don’t view time in calendar years, you view it in terms of
“training blocks” and race dates, and very quickly you go from an
18-year-old athlete to a 40-year-old one.„
On this journey, you have made the tweaks, adjusted the training
volumes, managed your injuries, pre-planned and focused, and continued
to do what you know. Time in your head stops, as it has never been
relevant to anything you have done up to this point. It is only when
others start to make an issue of it that it enters your thought process.
After I won the 2010 Ironman World Championship, in the press
conference after the race, the question came up: As a 38-year-old
athlete, was it possible to continue to win here? With sweat still on my
skin, the question was thrust into my face again, and my answer was, “I
guess we will have to wait and see.”
The following year Craig Alexander proved that this was possible,
winning another title in Kona at 38, and last year at 39 I won the Long
Course World Triathlon Championships in Europe, making me the oldest
ever world champion in our sport at a professional level. Greg Bennett
has seen amazing success in recent years, and Cameron Brown at 40 years
of age posted an eight-hour Ironman performance in Melbourne. Early this
year, at age 42, Oscar Galindez took out the highly stacked Ironman
70.3 field in Panama to win again, just like he has been doing for 25
years. Same names, different races, new years. From my seat, nothing
seems to have changed.
Endurance racing is not limited by age. In fact, age in endurance
racing is a benefit. I believe that the sport has it wrong when it
attempts to limit performance of athletes to a year of birth. I believe
that you are not physically and emotionally stable enough to lock in
success at the highest level in Ironman races until your mid-30s. What
no one ever considers in this style of racing is the importance of
experience, purpose and stability of an athlete, which all come only
with maturity. You can’t read about this or be taught it. It just is!
Our sport is young, and I believe that the next few years are going to
show some amazing performances by athletes approaching their mid-40s.
You haven’t seen anything yet.
But I didn’t mean to discuss age as a barrier to performance on a
professional level here. I want to ask why age is even considered a
barrier in the first place.
My dad has supported me in my triathlon adventures for my entire
life, and still rides his bike every day with his mates. Never did I
even consider my father capable of doing a triathlon. I guess to some
degree I am as age-biased as everyone else. I put the question to my
dad: Why, after all these years, had he never considered doing a
triathlon? Was he scared of the swim, the bike or the run?
My dad’s response was what inspired me to write this article in the first place.
“Son, if you think you’re old, you are old,” he said. “If you start
thinking you can’t do something, you simply won’t do it anymore. No one
falls to the top of a mountain. When you are at the top of the mountain,
it’s the people down at the bottom who tell you that you have been
there for too long and it is time to come down. When you listen to them,
someone else will take your spot on the top of that mountain. That’s
not just in winning your races, but in life in general. Remember you
have a lot of experts in the science of ‘can’t’ because not many believe
in the science of ‘CAN.’ The top of the mountain is the best view in
town. Never give that up, son!
“I don’t know why I have never done a triathlon. But what I propose
is if you can find me a race that will allow your dad to race, I will
give it a try. If your old man can begin this sport at 80, you can tell
those people who question you at 40 that the view at the top of the
mountain is not for sale!”
True to his word, my dad completed his first triathlon with my local triathlon club here in Sydney on March 31.
He swam 300 metres, rode 15K and ran 3K. My eldest daughter, Tahlia,
completed the entire race with him. I don’t get super emotional much,
but I was so touched and impressed that day, I could not hold the tears
back. Of course, Dad won his age group, and he continues to tell me that
now: “I have never been beaten, Son!”
As a professional racer, I will continue to race and compete at the
highest level for many more years to come. I will remind the next person
who asks me about my age of this story. My dad is an 80-year-old man
and has never been beaten in a triathlon by anyone his age in his life. I
have pretty good genes.
This sport is built on the back of amazing people who continue to
define and change the perceptions of what was once considered
impossible. Like my dad, I will be racing until I am 80 years old. No
doubt, he will continue to set amazing standards for me to chase.»
Chris “Macca” McCormack tem mais de 200 vitórias e é considerado por muitos:
«One of the best athletes the sport has ever seen!»
Este texto foi originalmente publicado no site Triathlete Europe
E mais dois vídeos, com o mesmo protagonista e sobre o mesmo tema:
40 is not over the hill
You are never too old to race triathlon, sobre o seu pai ter feito o primeiro triatlo com 81 anos!?!
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