Sports stars are role models, whichever way you spin it

So a privileged life of fame and fortune comes at a price - the price of privacy.

No sporting success comes without enormous effort and sacrifice. Reaching the top in any sport is not easy. Think for a moment of the hours and hours of training Grant Hackett has put in over the years to remain a world champion and the mighty effort he needed to win gold at the Athens Olympics with lung problems. There’s someone who’s rich and famous, and scandal-free. When he’s on the front pages it’s for outstanding achievements, like being unbeaten over 1,500 metres for 9 years (The Courier-Mail, August 2, 2005).

What do we expect from our sportsmen and women? We expect them to represent Australia to the best of their ability, to compete honestly, and to behave in an acceptable way. We don’t expect to have to keep making excuses for them.

When Warne was banned from cricket for 12 months for drug taking in 2003, the Gold Coast Bulletin captured the mood of the time with the page 1 headline, “Will we forgive him … again” (February 12, 2003). It appears so, for those who argue that what happens “off the field” should stay “off the field”.

But why should we forgive them? What kind of role models do the likes of Shane Warne, Wayne Carey, the Bulldogs players, David Beckham and various rugby league and union stars provide for the potential sporting stars of tomorrow? Totally unacceptable ones I would suggest. And while we continue to forgive and forget, we are allowing a few of our sporting greats (the minority of whose private lives leave much to be desired) to continue with their unacceptable behaviour.