HH Magazine - 20 July 2012 Christophe Roulet
Ever since sport became focused on setting new records, timing athletes' performance has become central to every discipline. These same athletes are now among the leading brand ambassadors, as the 2012 Olympic Games in London demonstrate.
Gone are the days when the Greek wrestler (pankration) Milo of Croton shone at the Olympic, Pythian or Nemian Games in the sixth century BC. There were no records to beat, simply a ritual, even religiously inspired activity that was also a means of training warriors at a time when the City-States were locked in intestine war. Indeed, hostilities would cease during the games so that athletes could measure themselves fairly against their opponents. But when the English upper classes turned their attention to sporting events during the Industrial Revolution, the emphasis shifted to performance.
In the words of the historian Philippe Liotard, "the body became a machine that must constantly surpass itself." "
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