ABSTRACT
I defend the view that the admirability of sporting achievements is a function of their difficulty and the value of their aim. I present an argument by Tännsjö that purports to show that athletes should not be admired. According to Tännsjö, admiring elite athletes commits us to having contempt for failures; I show that my view does not have this implication. My view entails that although athletes can deserve admiration, existing practices of admiring sports heroes are importantly flawed, as they either (i) involve admiring people for things that are beyond their control or (ii) commit us to having contempt for the unskilled. In my view, negative feelings towards competitors are justified only when they exert insufficient effort or aim at the wrong goals.
