After having tried and failed himself (mind you, after 17 years in retirement), Mark Spitz questions the ability of Janet Evans and Ian Thorpe to stage successful comebacks for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Via The Telegraph:
“The world moves on and it is quite difficult,†Spitz said at the Laureus World Sports awards conference in London.
“I don’t think as an athlete you ever forget how to train but what you really lose is how to race against your competitors.
“I knew how to compete against those I had been competing against for years. When I went to the pool I truly believed they were wondering who was going to get second as opposed to who was going to beat me.
“By leaving the sport, the door was open for everyone else to jockey up to the No1 gig and so when I re-entered the sport 17 years later I was not only yesterday’s news I was trying to find my own way back.
“Therein lies the handicap [for stars making a return to their sports], they have lost the edge on the new stars.â€
