Mark Webber divides Australian sports fans like few other athletes and the derision he receives from many in the public, and worst of all from certain parts of the media, says a lot about our incredibly high expectations of our sports stars and how we have become spoilt by our successes as a sporting nation.
Webber hasn’t won a World Championship, let alone a Grand Prix. But he isn’t deserving of the criticism he receives in the mainstream press, especially by journalists who don’t understand and appreciate the intricacies of Formula 1, a sport in which a driver is limited by the technical package he is stuck with.
It is sad that, because of this derision, many Australians have missed out on truly getting to know and appreciating Webber on a personal level. His easy going, intelligent and friendly disposition is something that the country would, and should, embrace.
His accident in his own charity event may have typified his bad luck, but it once again overshadowed the whole story: the fact that Webber was spending his off-season in Tasmania raising money and attention for various charitable organisations when most other Grand Prix drivers do their best to lock themselves away from the public.
So why are we so unfair on Webber?
Are we that ruthless as a sporting country that we overlook a genuinely good bloke and talent because he hasn’t reached the pinnacle of his sport yet?
Perhaps we are too spoiled for sporting success in Australia.
In the Commonwealth sports, we have long dominated. At the Olympics, we have punched above our weight considering our population size.
Sporting success is a crucial part of our national identity and culture.
As a result we expect, no demand, success.
If our athletes don’t perform then we seem to have every right to lambaste them. Who could forget how the media treated Sally Robbins for years after her Olympic performance?
What other industry is as punishing for mistakes, for limitations and for when your best is not enough.
We do have the right to expect our athletes to give their best when representing Australia on the global stage but there is a difference between high expectations and demanding close to perfection, gold medals, world championships and world records.
On the global stage, in sports we have struggled in, like football, it is harder to sell to a public who, in the main, lose interest when Australia is out of contention.
We are sometimes a nation of bandwagon jumpers.
As a colleague said to me here at the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, watch Australia fall in love with Mark Webber and the sport should he win this weekend.
In tennis, our golden age is well behind us. We have been overtaken by nations, most notably in Eastern Europe, who have better invested in their young players and are now reaping the rewards.
We therefore demand a new star, a return to the glory days.
But what gives us that God given right to expect and demand world-class athletes who dominate their sports?
We need to stop viewing our sports stars in such polarising ways.
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