Competition versus nature: how the sport warps human character

• Main Author: Werlayne Stuart Soares Leite
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: PPHU Projack 2014-01-01
• Series: Physical Activity Review
• Subjects: human character; Sport
• Online Access: http://www.physactiv.ajd.czest.pl/files/2014_1.pdf

The sport is considered one of the greatest social phenomena of the century. The society is facing a phenomenon that, like all social phenomena, is historically conditioned and culturally determined. The objective of this work is to demonstrate that the modern sport, plus all the benefits already known, can also affect decisively and warp human character. We tried to make a critical analysis on the subject today, having the Olympics as the main event analyzed. After the professionalization of the sport, this came to experience a real transformation with the establishment of a causal relationship between money and sports performance. If the genesis of the modern Olympic movement participation itself was a form of victory and coronation, at the beginning of the XXI century the prevailing pursuit of victory at any cost, even using illegal and unethical means, such as the use of doping. Thus the athlete who cannot win the first place and play the desired performance, often feels defeated. The consequences of the defeat are not sufficiently studied, which contributes to an attitude of denial about this situation on the part of members of the sports universe.