Extreme Sports And Extreme Athletes

The influence that modern sports have had on society within the past few centuries is profound. Billions of individual’s worldwide tune in through various forms of media in order to support their most revered establishment. Throughout the hardships and adversities that humanity has overcame, and will continue to overcome, one can turn to the world of sports to escape from these destitutions. The athletic activities provide and fuel the competitive spirit found deep within, and permits supporters to have the greatest amount of encouragement and backing of an organization possible. As society has progressed through a multitude of circumstances, the world of sports has adjusted its standing in society in order to stay relevant and withhold

The anthropology of sports is a cross-cultural sub-discipline that focuses on analyses of sports-related-social problems (Blanchard 1995:23). Although physical anthropologists for decades have done studies on body types, morphology, and functions, less work has been done in the area of cultural, social and psychological settings with regards to the way individuals live and also perform (Malina 1972). There are virtually unlimited opportunities for additional research to be done (Coakley and Dunning 2000:150). Researchers like

Over the years, the growth and changes in competitive sports has increased significantly. Sports games are now available twenty four seven weather it’s on national television or the radio, these activities have become a staple to American culture. Due in part to this, organizations have changed American athletics from more of a fun playtime to competition. Although, we may enjoy watching an intense sports game on television, the emotional and physical long term effects outweigh the entertainment of the people eagerly watching these activities occur. Also, the motivation to play the sport has become less about the team aspect and more about the emphasis on victory. Due to the unhealthy support from those around developing athletes, they’re

Psychology is argued to be the scientific study of the human mind and behaviour. So the obvious question can be asked, what is sport and exercise psychology? According to Gill and Williams (2008), sport and exercise psychology is the scientific study of people and their behaviours in sport and exercise context and the practical applications of that knowledge. In hindsight, what sport psychology does is take psychological theories and applies them to sport. Examples of these are: personality, imagery, aggression, motivation, skill acquisition and many more. Therefore, this essay will provide an insight to how mainstream psychology such as personality and behaviourism can be applied to sport.

In the article “For Children in Sports, a Breaking Point” by Jane Brody the author discusses the underlying problem on whether or not young athletes should be encouraged to push themselves to their physical and mental breaking point in sports from their coaches, parents, or even themselves. Meanwhile, in “Why Parents Should Let Their Kids Play Dangerous Sports” by Jeb Golinkin the writer deliberates why parents should let their children participate in risky sports to understand the significance of failing, teamwork, striving, and succeeding.

For most athletes, they're are a form of therapy or relaxation. John Donvan also stated, “While there is an awareness of risk it is not the reason most people are involved, but rather something they accept, they are looking for something deeper and more meaningful.” What Donvan seems to be saying is that most people involved in sports know of the risks they are taking, but they continue to perform anyway, these athletes are in sports and activities to find a calming and focus state. John Donvan's statement also relates for London's claim. Rather than back off an activity because of certain risk, people choose to persist and be active to better themselves physically and

There is an ever-increasing amount of athletes in track and field who use performance-enhancing drugs, so many athletes feel compelled to taking them. They probably feel as though if they are working and training as hard as they can, and there are other athletes out there who are also working just as intensely, plus taking chemicals to give them added strength and endurance, then those athletes will have the competitive edge. It reminds me of Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest. Those who are the most fit, or in other words, those who are stronger,

People can view sports as a measure of an athlete’s natural ability or the measure of an athlete’s effort and hard work. If we measure athletes on their natural ability, then the winners are the

Ethics is the practice of not only understanding where someone is coming from, but also understanding how he or she got there. Former Supreme Court Justice, Potter Stewart, when commenting on ethics, explained that “ethics” is “knowing the difference between what you have a right to do, and what is right to do.” Potters expression perfectly parallels to any ethical dilemma, as it is not only correct to bring in different approaches, but also to understand the goal, or as Potter put it- to know the “difference.” For the sake of this paper, and for a fair analysis, the four main ethical approaches will be considered: Virtue, Utilitarian, Justice, and Rights. The academic article “Man and Superman” by renowned Author, Malcolm Gladwell focuses on many ethical dilemmas in the world of extreme and professional sports, as it raises the question of- “When is Enhancement acceptable?”-Regarding Natural Versus Engineered athletic ability. He injects: “what qualifies as a sporting chance?” as people should not be allowed to enhance themselves to compete or catch up with the naturally talented.

A start and a finish line, hundreds of competitors lined up with faces of determination ready to compete in what they have been training hard for. Runners warming up, stretching, drinking water, and finishing routines with their coaches and teammates; anxiously waiting for the loud signal of the gun shot to begin the race. Once the shot has been fired you see the competitors sprint as fast their legs can go, to try to get a spot up front. Through out the race you see the rival schools go head to head speeding up inch by inch trying to get ahead. The sweat dripping from foreheads to chins, tired faces, heavy breathing, and pained looks are characteristics the competitors obtain midway through the race, which always seems to catch the crowd’s

Running, the punishment for other sports, infamously pushes individuals to exceeding limits, yet the activity juxtaposes the notion that there lies enjoyment. From the days of acquiescently accepting defeat from sprinting down the field against the flaunty

It is probably believed that sport adepts deserve to be more well-paid than other experts. The high salary advocates these celebrities going through arduous trainings. The hard exercises and fervent games lead to high-pressure competition and the potential risk of trauma, the implication has long term impacts compared to their relatively short

In conclusion, athletes damage their body for their own tranquility. In an odd, profound way, it is their very own peace. At the end of the day, they know they are killing themselves for an award. Whether it is a physical reward, or just an emotional reward they have a goal to achieve. Even though the outcome can be very brutal and what may seem very irrational. Athletes push their body because to them, the best results is when they reach their goal of

Following the 1970 jogging craze, a period of time which developed the well routined quintessential jogging lifestyle that we see portrayed in media, many athletes were looking to challenge themselves further and harder. At the time biathlons were a common occurrence, the multidisciplinary requirements were attractive to athletes that wanted to round out their skillsets and fill in gaps that couldn’t be touched by just jogging or just swimming. It was simple, be ready to run, swim, and bring your own bike, just like that a whole new beast was born. Twenty six years later it achieved olympic status at the Australian summer olympics of 2000, and has been growing in popularity since. With prestigous races such as the Iron Man, around half a million registered athletes in the team USA triathlon organization, over 5000 international triathlon events in 2012, it is undeniable that the triathlon has made a lasting impression within the endurance sport

Jones et al. (2002, 2007) has contributed to the understanding of mental toughness and its definition. Utilising qualitative methods to interview 10 elite athletes in a three-stage process, consisting of a focus group, interviews, and a rank order task. The focus group consisted of three athletes with the goal to define what mental toughness is and identify attributes of what they believed