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What can athletes with ADHD teach us about the condition?
Michael Phelps, hailed as the greatest Olympian ever, ha ...
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... cs offer a positive legacy for people suffering from it?

What can athletes with ADHD teach us about the condition? | Society | The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/aug/01/athletes-with-adhd

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What can athletes with ADHD teach us about the condition?

Michael Phelps, hailed as the greatest Olympian ever, has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Can his, and others', success be used help inspire younger people?

    • guardian.co.uk,
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Michael Phelps: swimming helped him with his ADHD.
Michael Phelps: swimming helped him with his ADHD. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

One has acquired more Olympic medals than any other athlete in history. The other was knocked out of the Games after just 250 seconds. But Michael Phelps and Ashley McKenzie, the 23-year-old British No 1 judoka, have one thing in common: both have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as does another high-profile Olympian, British gymnast Louis Smith, who this week helped win the first British men's gymnastics team medal for a century.

Suddenly, a condition that is hugely stigmatised and still controversial, is unexpectedly in the spotlight. It raises several interesting questions. Does ADHD hinder or help sporting success? And can the Olympics offer a positive legacy for people suffering from it?

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<div id="article-header"><div id="main-article-info"><h1 itemprop="name">What can athletes with ADHD teach us about the condition?</h1> <p itemprop="description" id="stand-first" class="stand-first-alone" data-component="comp : r2 : Article : standfirst_cta">Michael Phelps, hailed as the greatest Olympian ever, has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Can his, and others', success be used help inspire younger people?</p> </div> <ul id="content-actions" class="share-links trackable-component" data-component="comp: r2: Share tools"> <li class="full-line facebook"> <span class="facebook-share"> <a class="facebook-share-btn" href="http://www.facebook.com/dialog/feed?app_id=180444840287&amp;link=http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/aug/01/athletes-with-adhd&amp;display=popup&amp;redirect_uri=http://static-serve.appspot.com/static/facebook-share/callback.html&amp;show_error=false" data-href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/aug/01/athletes-with-adhd" data-link-name="Facebook Share"> <span class="facebook-share-icon"></span> <span class="facebook-share-label">Share</span> </a><span class="facebook-share-count"><i></i><u></u>134</span> </span> </li> <li class="full-line"> <iframe title="Twitter Tweet Button" style="width: 107px; height: 20px;" class="twitter-share-button twitter-count-horizontal" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/tweet_button.1340179658.html#_=1343908403535&amp;count=horizontal&amp;counturl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fsociety%2F2012%2Faug%2F01%2Fathletes-with-adhd&amp;id=twitter-widget-0&amp;lang=en&amp;original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fsociety%2F2012%2Faug%2F01%2Fathletes-with-adhd&amp;related=guardiang2&amp;size=m&amp;text=What%20can%20athletes%20with%20ADHD%20teach%20us%20about%20the%20condition%3F&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fgu.com%2Fp%2F39edh%2Ftw&amp;via=guardian" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> </li> <li class="full-line google-plus" data-link-name="Google plus"> <div style="height: 20px; width: 90px; display: inline-block; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border-style: none; float: none; line-height: normal; font-size: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;" id="___plusone_0"><iframe title="+1" src="https://plusone.google.com/_/+1/fastbutton?bsv=pr&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fsociety%2F2012%2Faug%2F01%2Fathletes-with-adhd&amp;size=medium&amp;count=true&amp;origin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk&amp;hl=en-GB&amp;jsh=m%3B%2F_%2Fapps-static%2F_%2Fjs%2Fgapi%2F__features__%2Frt%3Dj%2Fver%3DwD5gEUcJb3I.en.%2Fsv%3D1%2Fam%3D%21SQxz7F5VozeYIa9SGw%2Fd%3D1%2Frs%3DAItRSTOkZsGMIewdIBKOELWeH_FqwLsY-w#_methods=onPlusOne%2C_ready%2C_close%2C_open%2C_resizeMe%2C_renderstart%2Conload&amp;id=I0_1343908400369&amp;parent=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk" name="I0_1343908400369" id="I0_1343908400369" vspace="0" tabindex="0" style="position: static; top: 0px; width: 90px; margin: 0px; border-style: none; height: 20px; left: 0px; visibility: visible;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" hspace="0" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="100%"></iframe></div> </li> <li class="full-line email"> <a class="rollover send-email" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/email/1782044" title="Send to a friend"><img src="http://static.guim.co.uk/static/c9f90b3c5bbf96869cb84487a1f269cdfddea69a/common/images/icon-email.png" alt="" class="trail-icon">Email</a> </li> </ul> </div> <div id="content"> <ul class="article-attributes trackable-component b4" data-component="comp: r2: Byline"> <li> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/patrickbarkham" rel="author"> <img class="contributor-pic-small" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/contributor/2007/09/28/patrick_barkham_140x140.jpg" alt="Patrick Barkham" title="Contributor picture" height="60" width="60"> </a> </li> <li id="contrib-shift"><ul> <li class="byline"> <div class="contributor-full"> <a class="contributor" rel="author" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/patrickbarkham"> Patrick Barkham</a> </div> </li> <li class="publication"> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a>, <time datetime="2012-08-01T20:00BST" pubdate="">Wednesday 1 August 2012 20.00 BST</time> </li> <div class="initially-off ma-placeholder-discussion-comment-counts"></div> <script> jQ(document).ready(function(){ jQ.ajax({ url : 'http://static-host.appspot.com/staticfile/discussion/fill-comment-counts-swimlaned2.js', dataType : 'script', type : 'get', crossDomain : true, cache: true }); }); </script> <li class="comment-count"> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/aug/01/athletes-with-adhd#start-of-comments" class="content-comment-count" data-link-name="comment-count" short-url="-p-39edh"><span class="comment-count-text">Jump to comments</span> (<span class="comment-count-val">10</span>)</a> </li> </ul></li> </ul> <div id="article-wrapper"> <div id="main-content-picture"> <img src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2012/8/1/1343842420443/Michael-Phelps-swimming-h-008.jpg" alt="Michael Phelps: swimming helped him with his ADHD." height="276" width="460"> <div class="caption">Michael Phelps: swimming helped him with his ADHD. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images</div> </div> <div id="article-body-blocks"> <p>One has acquired more Olympic medals than any other athlete in history. The other was knocked out of the Games after just 250 seconds. But <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/michaelphelps" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Michael Phelps">Michael Phelps</a> and Ashley McKenzie, the 23-year-old British No 1 judoka, have one thing in common: both have <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder">attention deficit hyperactivity disorder</a> (ADHD), as does another high-profile Olympian, British gymnast <a href="http://www.louis-smith-official.com/" title="">Louis Smith</a>, who this week helped win the first British men's <span class="gia-popupDiscipline" data-discipline_id="GA"><span class="gia-popupAnchor"></span>gymnastics</span> team medal for a century.</p><p>Suddenly, a condition that is hugely stigmatised and still controversial, is unexpectedly in the spotlight. It raises several interesting questions. Does ADHD hinder or help sporting success? And can the Olympics offer a positive legacy for people suffering from it?</p></div></div></div>