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Freakonomics Radio

351. Here’s Why You’re Not an Elite Athlete

Freakonomics Radio

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.632K Ratings

🗓️ 27 September 2018

⏱️ 68 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

There are a lot of factors that go into greatness, many of which are not obvious. A variety of Olympic and professional athletes tell us how they made it and what they sacrificed to get there. And if you can identify the sport most likely to get a kid into a top college — well then, touché! (Ep. 3 of “The Hidden Side of Sports” series.)

Transcript

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0:00.0

You cannot be afraid to fail.

0:04.2

I had never been in an environment that was so emotionally charged.

0:10.1

That could be the reason you're telling your second-grade daughter that she's moving next week.

0:14.1

The fight started and I hit her as hard as I could and she actually fell down.

0:18.4

I have an eight-year-old son. There's no way I'd let him play Taken football.

0:21.1

I want to leave this sport being known as a bad mother.

0:32.6

Maybe you are an obsessive sports fan or maybe a more casual fan and you follow just a couple

0:38.9

sports or teams.

0:40.4

Or maybe you pay no attention to sports and you only see it when the Olympics are on

0:44.7

somebody else's TV.

0:46.6

Whichever the case, when you do see those athletes,

0:50.2

it's easy to think of them as existing solely in that context.

0:54.2

As a full-grown adult, wearing a uniform, performing under extraordinary pressure,

1:00.5

focused on a highly specialized task that has zero to do with daily life or at least your daily life.

1:06.4

But is that who those people really are?

1:10.7

And how they get so good at this thing they do?

1:13.6

When you see them on TV, all you're seeing is the outcome.

1:17.8

But what are the inputs?

1:19.9

We understand that elite athletes represent some magical combination of talent and determination.

1:26.4

But what about, say, luck?

1:29.2

Oh my gosh.

1:30.9

I, yes, absolutely. I think a ton of luck is involved.

...

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