The popularity of vaping cannot be questioned in the modern world. Vapers are sometimes considered a separate social group, which means there are so many of them that publicity cannot leave them out of society. Their needs are considered regarding smoking areas in public places, rules of air transportation, and legislative bases.
Simultaneously, this does not cancel the negative effects that vaping might cause. Some people have the impression that vape pen users all the time suffer from various kinds of health issues. However, this information is misleading, and some people are much more resistant to possible health issues than we could ever imagine.
Sport and Health: The Place of Vaping
When talking about athletes or people in sports generally, many of us have the wrong idea that such people are as fit as a fiddle, never get down with cold, and are resistant to any serious disease. Unfortunately, that is complete baloney. The facts are rather contradictory. Most professional sportspeople suffer from various health issues thanks to their professional activities.
Grueling and enduring training requires energy, perfect health conditions, and rigid discipline. Thus, athletes must be heedful, prudent, punctual, and vigilant, devoting themselves to sport to the fullest. They often are not allowed to do what they want. It might be especially difficult for young people. While their friends are partying, they must be leery about their diet and schedule.
Sometimes this becomes the ground for young athletes turning to vape. They would usually seek something entertaining, funny, and trendy. Trying to be rather cautious, they usually choose non nicotine vape. The background of this choice is the knowledge about the harms of nicotine. Because of real-life examples of sportspeople suffering from nicotine addiction, young athletes try to avoid such mistakes, believing that nicotine-free vaping can solve the problem.
Famous Sportspeople Who Smoke
Michael Jordan does not require any introduction; a legend of basketball, the best player of all times and nations. He heads our list because despite being a true cigars lover, Michael Jordan managed to reach great success in his career, and it is hardly possible to find a person who would not know who Mr. Jordan was. His passion for nicotine was not frowned upon, and he always had a cigar before every game.
Dion Phaneuf, the Maple Leafs captain, is being spotted smoking every now and then on various occasions. Dion was put under unrelenting pressure from his fans. Such a reaction is not surprising as the sports industry has been promoted as a healthy environment even since smoking was recognized as a harmful habit. Even non nicotine vape pens can cause negative feedback from fans and experts.
Dimitar Berbatov is a former professional football player from Bulgaria who retired three years ago. The most famous clubs he played for were Manchester United and Monaco. He was famous for being extremely precise when passing and shooting. This tells us not only about his natural talent but about long hours of training. His fans criticize Dimitar for smoking, but he never hides his habit. One can easily find his photos with cigarettes and cigars on the Internet.
Shane Warne is an Australian bowling player whose personality is quite contradictory regarding smoking. He has been known for smoking throughout his whole professional life. Then Shane got involved in Nicorette package advertising. The company paid him about £84,000 for this. In the end, Mr. Warne was seen smoking during Australia’s tour of the West Indies. Having admitted his giving into temptation, Shane got off with a whole skin (and money on his bank account).
John Daly is an American professional golfer famous for his unique and unpredictable temper and playing style. Most people know him as a “bad boy” because of his problems with alcohol, gambling, use of illicit substances, couple of divorces, and smoking. More and more health issues have been popping up after years of unhealthy lifestyle, so now Mr. Daly declares changes to his lifestyle and attempts to cure his illnesses.
Less Famous Stories
These cases support the opinion that smoking or vaping is not an obstacle to sports success. However, unfortunately, these examples are not representative because we cannot track the stories of people who would have become successful athletes unless nicotine. Moreover, one can find some stories of young athletes who failed to start because of vaping or smoking.
For example, NBC news reports the story of Cade Beauparlant – a young man who used to be passionate about ice hockey before he was hooked on juuling. Despite hockey being his life, a young man got nicotine addicted and smoked the amount of nicotine more or less equal to the entire pack of usual cigarettes. One sleepover with friends in the eighth grade ruined all of Cade’s career. Beauparlant lost lots of opportunities because of sitting out a quarter of the season his senior year. But not only was his career ruined but his lungs were also harmed too. A young man could not inhale enough air for playing, and his doctor could not give an accurate diagnosis because he did not confess to being a vaper.
Conclusions
There is no scenario that would work for everyone. Each person is unique, and each person’s story is unpredictable. One can never be absolutely sure of what will happen in a few seconds or a week, not telling about the final note of one’s career.
Both parents and trainers are concerned about the rising level of vapers among young sportspeople, especially those whose sport requires being fit and in good shape all the time. The influence on hockey players, swimmers, or baseball players can be much higher than an influence on chess or golf players.
Therefore, parents should be extremely careful and attentive to their children if they are professional athletes. Smoking and vaping among children have skyrocketed despite the current regulations.
