--- title: Famous athletes and what being a professional takes — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Famous athletes and what being a professional takes», a lesson of the medicine course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Being a pro is mostly the boring parts done for years: practice, sleep, planned food, rest days, physio after injurie --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Medicine](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/) / Famous athletes and what being a profe… # Famous athletes and what being a professional takes Lesson 63 of the medicine course of Mova's primary school: 14 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/0/) — Being a pro is mostly the boring parts done for years: practice, sleep, planned food, rest days, physio after injuries, and a plan for after a career that usually ends in the 30s. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/2/) — Academy at 10, City at 18, no cap» (no lie); his coach smiles, «Enjoy it, lad, just keep doing your homework an' all» (as well), because the figure often quoted is that under 1 in 100 academy boys end up as professionals. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/3/) — Stars had setbacks too: as a child Lionel Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone problem, joined Barcelona at 13 and was helped with his treatment, so being small at 10 doesn't decide your future. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/4/) — Pain is a message, not a badge: sore knees or heels in a growth spurt need rest and a check, a torn knee ligament means surgery and months out, and when Simone Biles withdrew from events in Tokyo to protect herself, many people called it brave. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/5/) — Only a tiny share of boys who join a football academy young become professionals; the figure often quoted is under 1 in 100. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/6/) — The «10,000 hours» idea was made popular by a book; practice matters a lot, but there is no magic number, and coaching, rest and enjoyment matter too. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/8/) — A torn ACL, a ligament inside the knee, often needs surgery and around 9 months of rehab before a player is back. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/9/) — Most professional footballers retire in their 30s, and many outside the top leagues earn ordinary wages and need a second career. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/10/) — As a child, Lionel Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone problem; he joined Barcelona's academy at 13, and the club helped with his treatment. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/11/) — Serena Williams won 23 Grand Slam singles titles after years of training from a young age. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/12/) — Muscles repair and get stronger during rest and sleep, so professional athletes plan their sleep like their training. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/13/) — Tour de France riders race 21 stages with 2 rest days and eat large, carefully planned amounts, with food and drink on the bike. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/14/) — At the Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles withdrew from events, saying she had to look after her mental health and had «the twisties», losing track of where she was in the air; at Paris 2024 she won 3 golds and a silver. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/63-famous-athletes-and-what-being-a-professional-takes/15/) — Children born early in the school year can be nearly a year older than classmates, so they are often bigger and get picked more; many younger ones catch up later. - ← previous: [The Olympics and Paralympics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/62-the-olympics-and-paralympics/) - next →: [Cheating and doping, as reported](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/64-cheating-and-doping-as-reported/) - ↑ back to [Medicine](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/)