Dara Torres-Amazing

I think the problem here is the definition of "role model". To me, the term can be used to say that someone is modeling something admirable without meaning their entire life is perfect. No matter whether you think Dara is neglecting her family, you have to admit that she is a shining example of a woman who knows how to work her butt off. That doesn't make her a saint, but it does make her someone positively modeling that being a forty year old woman doesn't disqualify women from being athletic. It's another example that women can still have some kind of life outside the home. What she said. Dara shows that you can do something that people say you cannot do because of age. If she is clean, it is much more meaningful. We do not know if she is neglecting her family. I imagine many of the significant others of Olympic athletes of any sports are feeling a bit of the "neglect" syndrome right now. To compete at such a high level takes time. And if you are saying, that she simply should not be taking that time now because she has already been in 4 Olympics, is at an age where she should stay home and bake cookies, well I happen to disagree. Have you never done something, or learned something or tried something....because you can? Because you really want to? I admire the drive it takes for a 41 year old woman to 1, stay in the kind of shape all her life to make this possible, 2, stay in shape through her pregnancy(which by the way is GOOD for the baby), 3, work hard to get back into shape after the pregnancy, and 4 not let the world define what age is too old to compete. Are there other women in this world who are equally as admirable and not as public and maybe have better balance in their lives? You betcha, and they deserve to be role models as well, maybe more.

I think the problem here is the definition of "role model". To me, the term can be used to say that someone is modeling something admirable without meaning their entire life is perfect. No matter whether you think Dara is neglecting her family, you have to admit that she is a shining example of a woman who knows how to work her butt off. That doesn't make her a saint, but it does make her someone positively modeling that being a forty year old woman doesn't disqualify women from being athletic. It's another example that women can still have some kind of life outside the home. What she said. Dara shows that you can do something that people say you cannot do because of age. If she is clean, it is much more meaningful. We do not know if she is neglecting her family. I imagine many of the significant others of Olympic athletes of any sports are feeling a bit of the "neglect" syndrome right now. To compete at such a high level takes time. And if you are saying, that she simply should not be taking that time now because she has already been in 4 Olympics, is at an age where she should stay home and bake cookies, well I happen to disagree. Have you never done something, or learned something or tried something....because you can? Because you really want to? I admire the drive it takes for a 41 year old woman to 1, stay in the kind of shape all her life to make this possible, 2, stay in shape through her pregnancy(which by the way is GOOD for the baby), 3, work hard to get back into shape after the pregnancy, and 4 not let the world define what age is too old to compete. Are there other women in this world who are equally as admirable and not as public and maybe have better balance in their lives? You betcha, and they deserve to be role models as well, maybe more.