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Life's Pleasures Quote by Alberto Juantorena

"And then you have the responsibility and the duty of being good examples to youngsters, not smoke, training hard, go to bed early, don't drink alcohol, don't take drugs, it's very important to have a policy for educating against doping"

About this Quote

Juantorena talks like someone who’s seen what “winning” can cost when the cameras turn off. The line is a checklist of clean living - no smoking, early nights, no alcohol, no drugs - but the real target is bigger than personal discipline. He’s arguing that elite athletes don’t just perform; they broadcast. Every habit becomes a lesson, whether they mean it or not, and younger athletes learn the unspoken curriculum: what shortcuts are tolerated, what sacrifices are rewarded, what “seriousness” looks like.

The phrasing is telling. He stacks “responsibility” and “duty,” then pivots to “policy,” shifting the burden from individual morality to institutional infrastructure. That’s the subtext: lectures aren’t enough. If sport wants credibility, it needs systems that educate, prevent, and enforce - especially around doping, where the incentives to cheat are baked into the business model of medals, sponsorships, and national pride.

Context matters here because Juantorena isn’t a casual commentator; he’s a Cuban legend whose career unfolded inside a politicized sports machine that treated athletes as symbols. In that environment, being a “good example” is never just personal branding - it’s social obligation. His insistence on anti-doping education reads as a plea to protect the next generation from a cycle where success gets confused with chemical optimization, and where the adult world quietly teaches kids that rules are negotiable if the results are spectacular enough.

Quote Details

TopicCoaching
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Alberto Juantorena on Athlete Responsibility and Anti-Doping
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About the Author

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Alberto Juantorena (born December 3, 1950) is a Athlete from Cuba.

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