Argentine Olympic equestrian Jose Maria Larocca takes his laptop to competitions. He is on the phone a lot at riding events. He is normally the last competitor to arrive and the first to leave. Between the ages of 24 and 34 he did not ride at all.
Why? Because he is one of the most influential oil traders in the world, as well as a show jumper at the Tokyo Games.
He claims to get at least seven hours’ sleep at night.
“You need to shift between one and the other and make sure that you’re properly focused on what you’re doing, on the task at hand. You cannot be riding a horse and thinking, what’s happening with a trade in the office,” the 52-year-old said, speaking from the Swiss offices of commodities giant Trafigura.
“When you’re riding, you have to be fully focused, otherwise it can be quite dangerous and there’s no chance — zero. Everybody else trains harder than me and is more experienced.”
The father of three runs for more than an hour during his lunch break every day. “The one thing that settles me and calms me down and helps me to think is running,” he said ahead of the Olympics.
Larocca is in no way the only Olympian splitting his life and passion while trying to juggle a private life.
Kellie Ann Harrington, Ireland’s flag-bearer in Tokyo and a world champion lightweight boxer, works part-time as a cleaner at a psychiatric hospital in Dublin.
“I am more than just a boxer. I am Kellie Anne Harrington. I’m a living person,” she said.
U.S. gymnastics superstar Simone Biles’ decision to pull out of several events at the Games, saying she felt the weight of the world on her shoulders, has brought athletes’ mental health into sharper focus.
“You need to have something outside boxing. You need to have another life. There is more to life than sport and anything can happen in sport, so you need something to fall back on,” Harrington said.
While the Olympics are officially a politics-free zone, that’s not true for the lives of Egyptian badminton player Hadia Hosny and Indian flyweight boxer Mary Kom — who are members of parliaments back home. Kom, 38, is also a businesswoman.
“I’m a mother, I have four kids and have been fighting continuously. … It’s very easy to say ‘world champion’ … It’s not easy (to do it),” said six-time world champion Kom, who won a bronze at London 2012, adding that she has made many sacrifices.
Hosny, 32, is studying for a pharmacology PhD. Her badminton partner Doha Hany, also a student, said fitting so much into their lives was hard but something she had to do from day one.
“And I’m happy to do that. So it’s very hard but I’m here so I’m very proud,” said 23-year-old Hany.
For some athletes, greater use of remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic has made straddling the two worlds easier.
Shlomo Lipetz, Israel’s 42-year-old baseball pitcher, organizes thousands of musical and other acts for U.S. venues, and has never played in one of the professional leagues. But with remote working he could train more with his team.
“I wish I could say if you’re persistent enough this can happen. But you need to be able to do what you love, love what you do and be in the right place at the right time,” he said.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.