BBC SPORT | Athletics | Jones hands back Olympic medals
Athletes are entertainers. So why don’t we cut them the same slack as other entertainers like Robert de Niro or Will Smith, when they dramatically transform themselves for us and put on weight to play top athletes (“Raging Bull,” “Ali”)? Why do we wag fingers at Marion Jones or homerun king Barry Bonds (allegedly) for using performance enhancers anyway? Coffee is a performance enhancer. So are vitamins. Now should each of us who has performed faster, better and with greater focus at work, after a trip to Starbucks or a vitamin store be singled out for public humilation? No. Let’s get some perspective. It’s entertainment.
