Sporting events across the world draw millions of viewers and adoring fans who look toward these world famous athletes as role models.

As the 2012 Summer Olympics in London draw near, commercials on the television have turned many of these athletes into icons to be remembered, but it seems as though we forget the fact that these world-class athletes are still people.

Take for instance, 14-time gold medalist swimmer Michael Phelps. He is a young athlete in his 20s who made one mistake and his entire foundation was rocked. How many times can I look on Facebook and see similar pictures from some of my friends that I just roll my eyes and think how stupid they act. I don’t spend more than a few seconds on that picture; it is just one small mistake.

Phelps spent the last few years working through that image when we should be seeing the massive accomplishments he was making in the pool. He is breaking records and earning medals, working hours to get to where he is as an athlete, yet, we judge him so harshly for one slip up.

Then there are runners like Usain Bolt, who prove that the impossible is possible, but you will find thousands of people blaming illegal substances. The man can train as many hours as he can and still be called a fraud by many because they can’t accept that what he did was even possible.

Everyone would analyze his every move after the event waiting for the smallest chance to catch a slip, but instead they caught him training just as hard. As the date of the games draws closer, people will be back at the hunt, searching for anything that will prove that what he did was not humanly possible.

Swimmer Dara Torres is another athlete who is being consistently tested for performance enhancers because of the body type she has. Her body is toned and strengthened through workouts and flexibility and she gladly tests for steroids because she has nothing to hide.

All these athletes want to be role models and prove something, but by making them hesitate, we create an unneeded pressure to their already stressful lives.

Being an athlete is not just a job anymore; it has become a definition of who a person is.

We want to put our athletes on pedestals and make them into these huge figures in society, but all we do is search for a reason to pull them down and show the world they aren’t untouchable.

They aren’t denying the fact that they have made mistakes. All they are doing is trying to live up to the standards we have placed in front of them as we wait for them to crash.