Andre Agassi has just added a convenient truth to an earlier, convenient lie. In an attempt to come out smelling of roses, he does far too much damage to those who look up to him, and other sportsmen, as role models. At the best of times it’s a flawed equation, this assumption that a fine sportsman is a fine person, but it exists and I fear Agassi may have given people reason to indulge in drugs. “Then comes a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head. I’ve never felt so alive, so hopeful, and I’ve never felt such energy”, he writes. It really doesn’t matter what you say after that because you have already glorified the “high”. A depressed young man has probably just succumbed.

Worse still, there was a lie and an attempt to pass the blame onto someone else. Finding people to goad you into taking a drug seems a fairly easy thing to do. Shane Warne’s mother stepped up and now Agassi’s assistant! And the message is that when the going gets tough, it’s okay to lie, even to transfer the blame. In all fairness, it happens everywhere but sportsmen tend to be looked up to; because they are tough in tough situations people assume that is true in private life. Agassi had an extraordinary attitude to sport, a wonderful work ethic and he was actually quite a decent role model. Hence the disappointment. Sometimes it is better to let a mistake stay buried for the larger good.

... contd.