Beyond Athleticism and Elitism: Why Sport Is More Than Just Entertainment
What is sport actually for?
We celebrate champions, cheer for medalists, celebrate national records, and advocate for greater investment in athletes. These things matter. Excellence matters. Representation matters. National pride matters.
Yet I have increasingly found myself asking a different question:
What happens after the medal?
A gold medal does not prescribe medicine. It does not build a hospital, fund a public-health programme, or cure a disease.
Or does sport contribute to those things in a way that we have been overlooking?
Perhaps the answer begins by distinguishing sport from physical activity.
Sport Is One Door Into Movement
The World Health Organization defines physical activity as any bodily movement that requires energy expenditure. Sport is one form of physical activity, alongside exercise, walking, cycling, wheeling, dancing, play, household activities, active transportation, and physical activity at work.
That distinction matters.
Because when we equate physical activity with competitive sport, we risk creating a world in which movement belongs primarily to people who are already athletic.
It does not.
Not everyone needs to become an athlete.
Everyone needs a way to move.
The Public-Health Case for Movement
Physical inactivity is not simply a lifestyle preference. It is a public-health concern.
Regular physical activity helps prevent and manage noncommunicable diseases including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, and diabetes. It is also associated with improved mental health, physical fitness, quality of life, and overall well-being.
The World Health Organization recommends that adults accumulate 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, or the equivalent amount of vigorous activity, together with muscle-strengthening activities on at least two days per week.
Perhaps most importantly, physical activity does not have to begin at an elite level.
Some physical activity is better than none.
This principle should change how we think about sport.
We do not need everyone to become an athlete.
We need more people to become active.
The Philippine Context
The issue is particularly relevant in the Philippines, where cardiovascular and metabolic health remain significant concerns.
The Philippine Heart Association's PRESYON 4 study reported a 37% prevalence of hypertension among Filipino adults in its nationwide study. The newer PRESYON 5 study reported a 34% prevalence in 2026, while researchers continue to warn about the future burden of hypertension and the increasing concern surrounding younger Filipinos.
The solution is obviously not as simple as telling everyone to play a sport.
Health is influenced by diet, genetics, socioeconomic conditions, environment, healthcare access, stress, sleep, and many other factors.
Physical activity is not a miracle cure.
It is, however, an important part of prevention and health promotion.
A landmark Diabetes Prevention Program trial provides one illustration. An intensive lifestyle intervention combining increased physical activity and weight management reduced the incidence of type 2 diabetes by 58% among adults at high risk. The intervention included a goal of at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week alongside weight-loss and weight-maintenance goals.
The lesson is not that exercise replaces medicine.
The lesson is that movement belongs in the conversation about health long before a person becomes a patient.
Yet We Have Made Sport About the Exceptional
This is where I think we have a problem.
Modern sport celebrates extraordinary performance.
We should.
I coach competitive athletes myself. I have watched athletes train for years for a few minutes on a competition floor. I have seen the discipline, sacrifice, repetition, disappointment, recovery, and courage behind an international medal.
Elite athletes deserve elite training.
National teams deserve investment.
International medals matter.
I say this as someone who trains competitive athletes myself.
What I question is the assumption that winning is the only measure of value.
We should not build an entire sporting ecosystem around the people who are already the best.
The person who trains twice a week is participating.
The office worker who finally gets off their chair after eight hours at a desk is participating.
The senior citizen who discovers Taichi at seventy is participating.
The child who struggles with coordination but keeps returning to practice is participating.
The person with a disability who finds an adapted way to move is participating.
None of these people needs a medal for their movement to matter.
Inclusion Does Not Mean Lowering Standards
Sometimes inclusion is misunderstood as asking us to lower standards.
It is not.
An elite athlete can be challenged to perform at an extraordinary level while a beginner can be given an equally meaningful opportunity to begin.
These are not contradictory goals.
In fact, they can strengthen one another.
The World Health Organization's physical-activity guidelines include recommendations for older adults and people living with disabilities, while emphasising that people should be active according to their abilities and circumstances.
This is why I believe coaches have a responsibility that extends beyond producing champions.
Our job is not only to identify who can become the best.
Our job is also to ask:
Who has been told that they do not belong here?
Who thinks they are too old?
Who thinks they are too heavy?
Who thinks they are too uncoordinated?
Who thinks they are too busy?
Who learns differently?
Who has a disability?
Who is afraid of being judged because they are not good enough yet?
Those people do not need less opportunity.
They need an entry point.
The Taichi Example
Taichi is one of the clearest examples of why I believe we need to separate athletic excellence from the broader purpose of movement.
Taichi can be practiced recreationally for physical activity and wellness. It can also be trained as a highly technical competitive discipline requiring precision, coordination, balance, control, and years of practice.
The same art can therefore look completely different depending on the person standing on the training floor.
An international competitor may spend years refining forms for competition.
A senior citizen may begin with simple movements to develop balance, coordination, confidence, and enjoyment.
A busy professional may use a short Taichi session as an opportunity to step away from a sedentary workday.
All three forms of participation have value.
One does not invalidate the other.
You do not have to be the best at movement for movement to be good for you.
Why the Zero Project Recognition Matters to Me
This is also part of why being shortlisted for the Zero Project Awards 2027 means so much to me.
Our project, Movement Is for Every Body, is built on the premise that the value of movement does not disappear simply because someone cannot perform at an elite level.
A senior citizen who learns Taichi twice a week has achieved something.
An office worker who finally gets off their chair has achieved something.
A neurodivergent child who keeps coming back even when training is difficult has achieved something.
A person with a disability who discovers that the training floor belongs to them too has achieved something.
None of them needs a medal for that achievement to be real.
The Zero Project Awards 2027 shortlist was selected from 615 nominations across 94 countries through a global peer-review process focused on innovative approaches to disability inclusion.
For a grassroots movement organisation, being part of that conversation is meaningful.
It reinforces something I have believed for years:
People should not have to become exceptional before they are allowed to participate.
The Medal Is the Headline. Movement Is the Legacy.
Sports has increasingly been associated with pride, awards, rankings, and extraordinary achievement.
There is nothing wrong with celebrating those things.
The problem begins when we forget what those achievements can inspire.
Every podium finish can become an invitation.
Every sports headline can encourage someone to try.
Every athlete who breaks a barrier can make another person believe that they can move too.
A child sees an athlete win and decides to try.
A teenager discovers a sport because someone represented their country.
A parent watches a competition and decides to become active.
A senior citizen sees someone their age performing and thinks:
Perhaps I can do that too.
A person with a disability sees an athlete competing and realises that their body does not automatically disqualify them from being an athlete.
That is the ripple effect of sport.
The medal is the visible achievement.
The movement it inspires may be the larger social impact.
That is why I founded Arena Fitness Dojo around a simple principle:
Movement Is for Every Body.
Our goal is not to make everyone a competitive martial artist.
Some will compete internationally.
Some will win medals.
Others will simply become stronger.
Some will become more confident.
Some will find community.
Some will discover that they are capable of more than they thought.
Some will finally find a form of movement that they enjoy enough to continue.
All of those outcomes matter.
Perhaps the greatest success of a sports hero is not the medal they bring home.
It is the child who sees them and decides to try.
The sedentary employee who decides to walk.
The grandmother who decides she is not too old to learn.
The person with a disability who discovers that the training floor belongs to them too.
The beginner who learns that they do not have to be good at something to deserve to do it.
That is the ripple effect of sport.
The medal is the headline. Movement is the legacy.
And ultimately:
Movement is for every body.
References
Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. (2002). Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin. The New England Journal of Medicine, 346(6), 393–403. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa012512
Philippine Heart Association. (2021). PRESYON 4: The fourth Philippine Heart Association nationwide study on the prevalence of hypertension.
Philippine Heart Association. (2026). PRESYON 5 Study. Presented at the PHA 56th Annual Convention and Scientific Meeting, May 27, 2026.
World Health Organization. (2020). WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. World Health Organization.
World Health Organization. (2026). Physical activity. World Health Organization.
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