in some sports, the way to shoehorn yourself into greatness, to marry your name into the sport so inextricably is through gay larpi— GUNSHOT— i mean having rivalry u (un)consciously cultivate. examples being fedal, pep and mourinho, tadej and jonas, alcaraz and sinner, and marc and rossi. in other words, who you are is defined in opposite and in relation to your so called rival. i think, even if you reject what im saying (and that's fair), there's still something to be said abt an athlete cannot remain perturbed and impervious against the more Theatrical aspects of the Sport in general. it's not enough that they (attempt to be) the most Perfect Robot in their way to success- how is body weapon fairing? do you have any injury?- bt they also have to deal w the Narrative TM. sports demand so much out of an athlete bcs there exists the propulsive tension btw the Robot that you're supposed to be and the Actor in a Theatre that you're supposed to play. sport is war sport is theatre, you know. you are not immune to it, dear players, even the most calcified of you. the only way to be immune of this gay larping is to become so great, so good at your chosen discipline that you are pretty much the GOAT/ the messiah of the sport. nobody is on your level. for examples. armand duplantis (well, he doesnt have a rival, neither contemporary nor historic, does he?). or usain bolt.
