Can Sport Superheroes Be Human Beings?

Lately, an epidemic of imperfect sport superheroes are filling up the news and not necessarily for their athletic achievements, but by the antagonist behavior of a superhero such as lying, cheating, and murdering.

Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee who became an exceptional runner on carbon-fiber blades in the Paralympic and Olympic races, is accused of murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp who died after 4 gunshots on the night of Valentine’s Day. Pistorius initially declared that he confused his girlfriend with an intruder but as details emerged in the ongoing investigation, she was shot through a bathroom door and neighbors heard the couple fighting previous to hearing the gun shots.

While sport fans are seeing their hero plummeting down, sponsors are quickly withdrawing millions of dollars from Pistorius. Sponsors release statements as if they were as important as the statements from the victims’ families or lawyers.  “In light of the recent allegations, Oakley is suspending its contract with Oscar Pistorius, effective immediately,”an Oakley spokeswoman said.

 We live in a society that is obsessed with sport superheroes that have unique stories of overcoming unthinkable challenges and therefore their life becomes a sort of untouchables journey, or at least that’s what we think.  

 Sponsors play a big role in creating that fallacy. For example, Nike helped Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong to polish a perfect image of undefeatable superheroes in order to profit from their images. Without a doubt those athletes have unmistakable talent and perhaps are the best in their fields. However, the high expectation and the pressure to be a sport superhero make them fall to the darker side of a human being.