The true elites* I've talked to over the years don't have this attitude. The degree to which you look down on others is probably the degree to which you're overly impressed or intimidated, which is probably why you didn't do as well as you wanted to do. (It also sounds like you felt obligated for some reason to do the sport and have residual anger about that.)

* By elite I mean the individual gold medal winners, generally. I've found a big gap between them and the basic Olympic team member.

No one from the huge mass of people who realize early in life that obsession is destructive is ever going to end up on the medal stand. To choose anything and decide to be the best in the world is like buying a ticket for the lottery and spending the rest of your life in front of the computer looking for the right number. Most people know early on, by seeing the destructive consequences of a narrow focus, that life is filled with too many things to focus on just one. As I watch the Olympics I am impressed with skill and beauty of accomplishment and always saddened that the obsessed need to choose between the two best people in the world. It is at best a meaningless distinction, predicated on human judgement in that moment, and at its worst a system that produces the kind of anxiety expressed in this article. But I do get your point and I have no feeling that I share in your experience. I choose to do a lot of things well enough to give me pleasure in all of them and I would never choose to do one thing better than anyone else. And as I watch the Olympics I will continue to feel bad for all those people who think they are somehow special and who feel lose as a result. I still think their efforts are beautiful and I hope they can enjoy them for what they are.

doesn't mean we all want to know about them. And it certainly doesn't mean that TELLING us all about them is the best thing for you.

It seems like denying that your friends or acquaintances "really" were athletes is not about your achievements; it's about your suffering. You want to make sure everyone knows that all these amateurs didn't suffer as much as you did. But you shouldn't be protective of your suffering--you should be working to recover from it!

But don't take my word for it; exorcize your demons with a therapist, not a message board, and get some real help and answers.

Thank you for sharing. Please let us know when you have completed your therapy. In the meantime, don't share any more of it with us.

There's nothing for you to "turn into." Only an idiot would complain about how the average fan doesn't understand the pain and sacrifice that comes with elite level competition. NO, I understand it well. I just don't care. For you it was a choice. That doesn't appear to be the case for the Chinese gymnasts.

I don't feel sorry for you or for Chelsy Memmel or any American on the Olympic squad who didn't get gold or any medal at all. If the pursuit itself isn't enough to give a sense of accomplishment and joy, that's the problem. Don't you realize how privileged you were to be able to pursue a sport at an elite level? Gymnasts, swimmers and hordes of other elite athletes toil in obscurity and get very little compensation. Their parents meanwhile fork out tens of thousands of dollars. What the athlete gets is the privilege of training and competition.

Hello Jennifer,

As an avid Salon reader, mostly for the political articles, as the magazine is renowned for it's coverage. Recently, I have been enjoying your articles on sports and your personal trials and insights that you have experienced during your sporting career. You have an engaging writing style, a personal level of depth that is rarely found in the jumble of articles that are usually found online. The latest article titled "The Beast" is a great take on the mentality of the people who are actually in the arena in contast with the differing viewpoint of the spectators. This article really hit home with some of the personal trials I am experiencing as of recent. Unfortunately, as you know, there always seems to be no shortage of superfical comments from the comfort of the sidelines. Anyways,I throughly enjoy your work and keep writing. Sometimes our works have a greater impact far more than what we would imagine, even on the flip side of the globe.

Sincerely,

J.S. Stinson/

Melbourne, AUS

What boggles the mind is that a once top-tier athlete would denigrate the athletic pursuits of amateurs, even if only in her own mind.

People need sports, not just as spectators, but as participants. I have seen, and experienced, the power of athletics to transform the lives of those who engage in them. And I'm not talking about elite athletes -- I'm talking about former couch potatoes who merely decided to make a change for the better. Now I read that I would not be considered an athlete by a pampered moron who had the luxury of pursuing her sport on a full-time basis.

Well, screw you. Your snobbery is the most disgusting form of elitism I can imagine. The fact that you wrote about it only makes it worse. If your words discourage even one person from taking up athletics, you deserve a special place in hell.

You sound more like a little bitch who is mad your mommy and daddy made you go to all those events while you wished your body matured so boys would be interested in you. You sound like you have some issues that you need to deal with. It's not the fans. It's you. You also seem to think to highly of yourself.

Sorry but you were a gymnast for Christ sake.

Your not an athlete. Your probably just great in bed. At least flexible.