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Olympic medal-winning cyclist Rebecca Twigg is homeless in Seattle

seattletimes.com

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Re: Olympic medal-winning cyclist Rebecca Twigg is homeless in Seattle

#11

Post by pbhjpbhj »

doe88 wrote: post #3

I'm feeling for her. Finding the right work is never easy but it seems reconversion after pro-sport can be really tricky, especially for these sports where it's hard to earn enough to make a living. From all the examples I read through the years I got the impression that the least disrupting kind of reconversion in these cases is have the luck to find a way to somehow stay in your sport, trainer, or work in the feder…

>and of course I think it's even more difficult when you're a woman. //

Would you mind explaining why? I'd imagine how difficult it is to move to the coaching/administration level was more a function of the particular sport? Are you thinking just about differences in the level of funding?

Re: Olympic medal-winning cyclist Rebecca Twigg is homeless in Seattle

#14

Post by emiliobumachar »

tw1010 wrote: post #12

"She took a break at age 26, and that year she grew an entire inch" What's that again? I've never heard of anyone growing after the age of 18.

That surprised me too, but, on second thought, elite athletic training is all about passing limits that apply to everyone else. It's not that weird that some of the unintended consequences are also unheard of in the general population.

Re: Olympic medal-winning cyclist Rebecca Twigg is homeless in Seattle

#15

Post by doe88 »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #11
doe88 wrote: post #3

I'm feeling for her. Finding the right work is never easy but it seems reconversion after pro-sport can be really tricky, especially for these sports where it's hard to earn enough to make a living. From all the examples I read through the years I got the impression that the least disrupting kind of reconversion in these cases is have the luck to find a way to somehow stay in your sport, trainer, or work in the feder…

>and of course I think it's even more difficult when you're a woman. // Would you mind explaining why? I'd imagine how difficult it is to move to the coaching/administration level was more a function of the particular sport? Are you thinking just about differences in the level of funding?

> Would you mind explaining why?

Not at all. Simple. Always (until now at least) a prejudice against women when positions have limited numbers to fill. And of course, the whole area of sport is biaised against women, for instance, for her sport there is still no real tour de france for women in cyclism, in 2019.

Re: Olympic medal-winning cyclist Rebecca Twigg is homeless in Seattle

#16

Post by retiredcoder »

harias wrote: post #4

>It was a far cry from winning medals for Twigg, and beyond that, she said the solitary nature of programming troubled her. I would like to know what HN thinks about the 'solitary' nature of programming? Isn't programming more or less a group endeavor now?

I also would like to reiterate that her context used to be different before - no judgements. As a competitive pro athlete, you are constant asked and in check with your body and/or emotions. There is also a greater sense of protection/support from the coaches and people involved. Whereas in the professional life, it is usually the opposite, managers are rarely willing to protect employee but extract results at their expense and coworkers couldn’t care less if you have a lower back ache, etc.

It is jungle and can be confusing/sad/demotivating to realize that your best is no longer at their best interest.

Yet, I find myself as developer still fortunate to have somewhat rational managers and the market condition still in our side mostly.

Re: Olympic medal-winning cyclist Rebecca Twigg is homeless in Seattle

#17

Post by FakeComments »

jplayer01 wrote: post #5

She sounds like a great person and I hope things work out for her. It's hard to find the right context for her without painting her in a bad light. Some people are eager to call her (or people like her) lazy, conveniently ignoring the fact that nobody really wants to live this way. Society as it is designed now doesn't know what to do with people like her, so they're either ignored or just given shelters and... That'…

Can you point to a solution besides giving them shelter and just sort of tolerating it?

I mean, there’s different mechanisms for shelter — family, public housing, NGOs, etc, and we can talk about how to tweak those knobs as a culture — but I can’t think of what else cultures have done, besides various levels of housing people who just want to float.

Re: Olympic medal-winning cyclist Rebecca Twigg is homeless in Seattle

#18

Post by xbma »

harias wrote: post #4

>It was a far cry from winning medals for Twigg, and beyond that, she said the solitary nature of programming troubled her. I would like to know what HN thinks about the 'solitary' nature of programming? Isn't programming more or less a group endeavor now?

It is for show, real work still gets done by solitary programmers.

Some people may have the capacity for pair programming but I doubt that it is sustainable. The conclusion of the famous Steele/Stallman session is this:

"My first thought afterward was: it was a great experience, very intense, and that I never wanted to do it again in my life."

Re: Olympic medal-winning cyclist Rebecca Twigg is homeless in Seattle

#19

Post by tapland »

tw1010 wrote: post #12

"She took a break at age 26, and that year she grew an entire inch" What's that again? I've never heard of anyone growing after the age of 18.

You can grow into your early twenties or so. Unlikely to grow after that even if administered extra HGH (human growth hormone). At age 26 it seems very weird!

Re: Olympic medal-winning cyclist Rebecca Twigg is homeless in Seattle

#20

Post by caymanjim »

tw1010 wrote: post #12

"She took a break at age 26, and that year she grew an entire inch" What's that again? I've never heard of anyone growing after the age of 18.

They make it sound like it was because she was burning fewer calories and had some left over to grow, but I don't think it works that way. My uneducated guess is that it's a posture thing; he spine probably stretched or relaxed in some way after she stopped spending her entire waking life hunched over pedaling.
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