In 1980, Soviet gymnast Elena Mukhina was preparing for the Olympics. She had broken her leg the year prior, and after her cast had been removed twice prematurely by demand of her coaches, her leg had not been able to heal properly.
Yet, she continued training for the Olympics, the Soviets pressuring her to carry the Olympics for them, after the victory of Nadia Comaneci in the Olympics prior had left the Soviets without gold. Elena was training a Thomas Salto, a floor pass never done before by a woman. It required her to land in a forward roll, which was dangerous because she had the potential to land on her neck. She begged her coaches not to make her do the skill because it was too dangerous.
Two weeks before the Olympics, she landed on her neck and her spine snapped. She became a quadriplegic, and in 2006, at age 40, she died from complications from quadriplegia.
Winning was more important than her safety.
Although the Soviet Union has since broken up and the Thomas Salto has been banned from women's competition, the world is not obsessed with the idea of winning, but the idea that winning brings power. Each year, people crowd around their screens for NCAA championships or professional league championships. Winning a championship like these comes with a huge amount of power and pride, and many people would go to great lengths to have that power, even if it means sacrificing the safety of their athletes and other people. The times have not changed since Elena Mukhina, they've simply been covered up.
Recently a story broke that several US Gymnastics coaches had been reported for sexual abuse to their young gymnasts. One case out of many to have been reported was that of Marvin Sharp, who in 2011 was reported for sexual abuse, but nothing was done until 2015. Why? He was Women's Coach of the year in 2010. These people created champions, and they created winners, and sexually abused girls were swept under the rug in order to keep producing those winners.
All sports will say they have ethical practices for their athletes and coaches, and why would they say anything different? Why would they admit that their systems are corrupt and hurt people?
Look at all the college rape cases that disappear because the perpetrator was a star athlete. Brock Turner, only a few months ago, brutally raped someone and barely got off with a slap on the wrist. He was a star swimmer. There are too many more cases that would be too long to list, but the fact is, the obsession with winning and champions and power ends with people like Elena Mukhina, who had to give up her life for people to see there was something wrong with the system.
