It's very amusing that Anna, particularly, has bucked this trend considering she was a poster girl for McDonald's in 2008 for her liking of kicking back with a sinful treat once in a while.
What kind of message does that send, eh? That you can enjoy unhealthy products and still be a global champion? Something must be done!
So the University of Sydney (who else?) did that something. They conducted a study to see what other Aussie athletes thought about the likes of Meares earning money from such endorsements.
CONCLUSIONS: Elite athletes are receptive to supporting health promotion through sport and many are not in agreement with the promotion of unhealthy products in sport or by sports people.So, let's get this right. Australian athletes don't like their successful counterparts - because they are the ones gaining the big endorsement contracts - advertising products like McDonald's.
Of course, if the lesser athletes had earned the 'elite' tag before expressing these concerns - not much sign of that in London - they could have refused the endorsement cheques to prove their point, couldn't they?
Anna doesn't give much of a stuff, I reckon. She's won a gold medal and is probably enjoying ice cream and a fizzy drink - or maybe something stronger like British winners - while her failed compatriots are planning their flights home and consoling themselves with their medal-free self-righteousness.
If the result of the unending Australian health obsession is a nation - which used to be nigh impossible for us to beat - becoming a rag-bag array of limp pussies, I'm all for it.
Keep it up Australia! We certainly don't want you going back to those devil-may-care days when you lived a little and beat us hollow.
