I read some expert said it was impossible to teach somebody to be a tennis star once they were past age eight or nine. He might have said even a few years younger.
Interestingly, around nine years is a common “limit” for many stars in any sports to have started. In fact, many today began when they were as young as two!
There are also stars who didn’t begin until they were 14 or 15. Basketball has them as one example. Of course, it can be argued those oldtimers actually really started when growth spurts took them to taller heights. The same applies to those African star runners born in high altitudes. It’s sort of a built-in physical advantage.
I’m thinking if Santa Claus had brought me a ride-em car back when I was two or three, I would have been driving NASCAR in my 30s. Call it early indoctrination. It also helps explain why so many top stock car drivers come from the American southeast. Nature plus nurture.
This ‘early’ stuff is considered one of the biggest reasons why Norway does so well in Winter Olympics. Much of Norway life and culture revolves around winter. Not just Olympics this time around as of this writing, but in many Winter Olympics from past years.
As of Thursday last week, Norway had 16 gold medals. Total medal count was 34. Host country Italy was second with 26. The United States right behind with 25. Sweden was sixth with 15. Canada 11th with 15 medals total.
Norway might have one-eighth the population of Canada but compare us to the States or China. The US is eight or nine times more populated than Canada. China had only 10 medals last week. That country has 30 times the Canadian population.
I haven’t tuned in to follow much of any country except Canada. I don’t know if that’s how it should be. I actually have relatives who went off to Italy to be at hockey games. We saw them on TV in fact, waving one big Canadian flag! I can’t even remember what game it was. Olympic overload kicking in maybe. Snowboarding and bobsledding caught my attention. Hockey, of course. But it’s curling that has really brought on constant nail biting.
Watching the best curling team in the world, the Homan Empire, lose games and then squeak out wins to get to the playoffs, well, whewwww! Worth every minute of watching early in the morning.
One has to say, not one of these games to this point was a walk in the park. Even South Korea could have gone sideways with one missed rock or even, heaven forbid, a pick on the ice. And almost did!
Did all these countries new to curling start 20 or 30 years ago? I don’t think so. South Korea needed a foreign coach, which indicates there is no “old” home talent. Which also sort of indicates some of these sports, for those inclined, determined, and capable, can be picked up after a few seasons. Good to know.
But really, I don’t want to think about oldtimers having heart attacks competing in cliff-hanger games. Fun, but already, tense enough on the edge of my seat, just watching.
Jeff Burgar