Are Champions Born or Made?
Last month I ran a poll on my Instagram story (@ajwsportstherapist), asking whether 'Champions are Born or Made?' 80% of people that responded thought that champions are made and only 20% thinking champions are born.
The ongoing debate of whether champions are born or made leads to lots of discussion between athletes, coaches, medical professionals and fans. Are the Greatest of All Time (GOATS) the best from birth or can you become a GOAT? Did Serena Williams have a predetermined ability for success in her genetics or was it hard work and perseverance that made her rise to the top?
This is a prime example of the ‘Nature Vs Nurture’ debate, which in itself is an oversimplification of an area which has so many factors affecting the outcomes. To understand this fully we need to review what we actually mean by Nature and Nurture in terms of this effect.
Nature has been described as the pre-set wiring of each of us, that is heavily influenced by genetic make up. Meaning that it's determined by your parents, so could explain why we see a lot of elite athlete’s children also thriving in sports. Michael Schumacher's son Mick Schumacher is set to make his F1 debut this season 9 years after his father retired from the sport for a second time.
Nurture on the other hand has generally been looked at as external factors that affect each of us after we have been born. These can be things that we are exposed to, life experiences, financial opportunities and learning.
R. Dawkins states that people's tendency to compare things against each other is due to the “Dichotomous Mind”, a human tendency to take a hugely complex idea and put it into simple position statements. This relates straight to this debate as it's never going to be just one of those things affecting whether an athlete becomes a champion or not. But a combination of various factors, all affects in different ways and different amounts.
When looking at the success of athletes, research states that instead of sitting on the extreme side of each argument, it’s key to look at how factors in both of these categories intermix. This is a research area called epigenetics which shows how environmental influence (nurture) affects the expression of different genes (nature).
If we stick to the two position statements of nature or nurture to answer the question. What people perceive the answer to be and which is more prominent in the population varies based around the individual's background. So, depending on who you ask you will often get a different answer to whether champions are born or made. This is due to some gravitating towards physical attributes (nature) as they are tangible, whilst others lean towards how an athlete is developed throughout their early career (nurture).
Looking at your own standpoint for the answer can be traced back towards your own sporting interests and history, as well as your parents!
Those who have a keen interest in skill based sports such as archery and snooker for example, think along the nurture route typically due to physical attributes not necessarily being advantageous to these sports but skill perfection is. This is compared to sports where physical attributes such as height in basketball and overall size in American Football lead to success then this looks towards nature, as these are things one can not control or change.
So where do you stand and why? Are champions born or made?
Let me know below.
