From time to time, Iñaki Pardo goes down to the sixth floor and sits down to talk with the Sports editors. He is now a magnificent chronicler of current political events, but he is quite involved in sports matters. Big man as he is, Iñaki Pardo leverages his giantness on an armchair and prepares to debate about Barça or Joventut or Sinner.
(He once reminded me that, a while ago, he himself wrote about Sports).
Now that the spring classics have taken flight, Iñaki Pardo feels in his element. If something dominates, above any other discipline, it is cycling.
The other day, our big colleague came to share with us the link to a news article published in various media. He was talking about a popular cycling event in Villena, in March: the sixth stop of the Vinalopó Interclubs.
It turns out that, well into the race, a rumor had started to run in the peloton. Several cyclists were worried that a pack of vampires was waiting for them to cross the finish line. Random controls were inaugurated.
Any cyclist could be called up.
No sooner said than done. Just as the rumor had spread, the platoon was witnessing a rout. A handful of runners simulated punctures. Others declared themselves exhausted and got into the team car. As there had also been a fall a few kilometers from the finish line, someone had pretended to be seriously injured. In the end, only fifty of the 180 who had started had reached the finish line.
The rest, up to 130 hard workers on the route, had left, sneaking quietly through the back door.
At the end of his story, Iñaki Pardo faked a smile and left in silence.
In politics life is not so bad.
(...)
It's hard for me to metabolize these types of stories.
I wonder what mechanism manipulates the mind of the popular athlete.
What exactly are you looking for?
Don't you do sports for health? Don't you do it to get in shape and eventually feel the adventure of playing for a position with a rival? Why does one contaminate one's body to compete in a race that will give one no name, no money, no glory? Is he an EPO and anabolic junkie? And if he wins in the end, will he feel proud of having won after cheating? What will he think when he contemplates the cup that he displays on the shelf in his office, that trophy acquired after taking clenbuterol?
What will you think when you tell your son the victory?
If a popular athlete tests positive, there is no need to sanction him. We have to take him to the psychiatrist: a colleague from Politics had come to tell us that, sometimes, Sports seems like Society.
(Not to mention Rubiales, of course).
