elingrace4eva said:First of all, skating is not Johnny's job. Johnny is an amateur, skating is his chosen activity....
And I would hardly call working extremely hard to become an elite at your sport is doing the "bare minimum" of it.
Skating is not only Johnny's chosen activity, it is how he supports himself. My point was very simple, though -- yes Johnny works extremely hard to become an elite in his sport, but the same can be said for every other elite skater. That is why I called it the "bare minimum" of elite skating -- every elite skater has to do it. It is the "extra" -- understanding that they are role models and acting accordingly, or just making people happy -- that sets some elite skaters apart from others in popular opinion, at least.