The origins of sport and competition
For someone who writes books I struggle far too much when trying to help my daughter with her year 5 literacy homework (any tips on how to remember what a fronted adverbial is would be gratefully received!). Despite this I still love learning about the origins of language. This book was particularly good and I now look for meanings everywhere! There are three I really love in our world of sport and performance:
- Sport – Hat tip to ultra runner (and newly longlisted for the Sports Book prize) Sophie Power (Home | Sophie Power @ultra_sophie Ultra Runner) for this prompt – The word sport originally came from the Latin ‘desportare’ which meant to carry away which, through French became ‘desport’; where the ‘carry away’ was to ‘carry away the mind from serious things’ and developed the meaning to divert, amuse or play. It was used by Chaucer (14th century) to mean pastime, amusement or recreation. Over the following 700 years it has developed into games that need physical exertion.
- Competition – The Latin root of ‘compete’ comes from ‘com’ and ‘petere’ meaning ‘together’ and ‘seeking’ suggesting that competing was not originally about beating others but working together to create something better. When so much seems to comes down to scores, results and trophies it can get lost – and yet many of the stories we love in sport come when athletes support each other; athletes choosing to share gold (remember this moment in Tokyo – ) or those from opposing teams picking each other up to cross the finish line together
- Amateur – I researched this after seeing the awesome ultra athlete Victoria Stansfield talking about turning down offers from professional cycling teams because she found the pressures and restrictions of being a professional reduced her love of riding. She wanted to stay an amateur and have autonomy and perform on her own terms. I looked up the word amateur to discover it is borrowed from French and Latin descending from the word ‘amator’ which means lover. Therefore to be an amateur is to love what you do.
So when, in sport, the pressures feel too much and the joy has been sucked from what we are doing maybe it is worth remembering the original meanings of sport and competition to invite perspective. With this perspective the threat level drops because we remember that we compete because we love what we do, it helps us have fun and we get to be with others. Ultimately (and ironically) that perspective is what will bring more sporting success.
Who is doing cool stuff
Have spotted some great sporting challenges recently and wanted to share…
Prison Run – John McAvoy who we got to interview on Be Braver (listen to episode here) has just announced he is taking a group of prison leavers and training them up to run the 2027 London Marathon.
Another Be Braver guest, Dr Sarah Ruggins has just announced that she is planning a world record attempt. Titled ‘Project Atlas’ she wants to set a new overall fastest time for circumnavigating the globe by bicycle. The current record is held by Mark Beaumont who, in 2017, cycled the 18,032 miles from Greenwich to Greenwich in 78 days. Ruggins is aiming for 75. She’ll need to ride an average of 250 miles a day. This will be dot watching at its absolute finest! Listen to her talk here
Another brilliant challenge came from Dr Lucy Gossage’s (another Be Braver guest – listen here – who completed an amazing Pennine Way run in September. She set a new women’s supported FKT (fastest known time) for the 268-mile route in 2 days, 22 hours, and 47 minutes. She beat the existing record by almost 2 hours. You can read more here.
ADHD awareness month
Finally, October is ADHD awareness month and my publisher has kindly discounted my ADHD in Sport book for it. If you put in adhd20 at checkout you’ll get 20% off.
ADHD in Sport: Strategies for Success – Sequoia Books
See you next month.
Josie
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