<div id="article-header"><div id="main-article-info"><h1 itemprop="name">What can athletes with ADHD teach us about the condition?</h1> <p itemprop="description" id="stand-first" class="stand-first-alone" data-component="comp : r2 : Article : standfirst_cta">Michael Phelps, hailed as the greatest Olympian ever, has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Can his, and others', success be used help inspire younger people?</p> </div> <ul id="content-actions" class="share-links trackable-component" data-component="comp: r2: Share tools"> <li class="full-line facebook"> <span class="facebook-share"> <a class="facebook-share-btn" href="http://www.facebook.com/dialog/feed?app_id=180444840287&amp;link=http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/aug/01/athletes-with-adhd&amp;display=popup&amp;redirect_uri=http://static-serve.appspot.com/static/facebook-share/callback.html&amp;show_error=false" data-href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/aug/01/athletes-with-adhd" data-link-name="Facebook Share"> <span class="facebook-share-icon"></span> <span class="facebook-share-label">Share</span> </a><span class="facebook-share-count"><i></i><u></u>134</span> </span> </li> <li class="full-line"> <iframe title="Twitter Tweet Button" style="width: 107px; height: 20px;" class="twitter-share-button twitter-count-horizontal" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/tweet_button.1340179658.html#_=1343908403535&amp;count=horizontal&amp;counturl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fsociety%2F2012%2Faug%2F01%2Fathletes-with-adhd&amp;id=twitter-widget-0&amp;lang=en&amp;original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fsociety%2F2012%2Faug%2F01%2Fathletes-with-adhd&amp;related=guardiang2&amp;size=m&amp;text=What%20can%20athletes%20with%20ADHD%20teach%20us%20about%20the%20condition%3F&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fgu.com%2Fp%2F39edh%2Ftw&amp;via=guardian" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> </li> <li class="full-line google-plus" data-link-name="Google plus"> <div style="height: 20px; width: 90px; display: inline-block; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent; border-style: none; float: none; line-height: normal; font-size: 1px; vertical-align: baseline;" id="___plusone_0"><iframe title="+1" src="https://plusone.google.com/_/+1/fastbutton?bsv=pr&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fsociety%2F2012%2Faug%2F01%2Fathletes-with-adhd&amp;size=medium&amp;count=true&amp;origin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk&amp;hl=en-GB&amp;jsh=m%3B%2F_%2Fapps-static%2F_%2Fjs%2Fgapi%2F__features__%2Frt%3Dj%2Fver%3DwD5gEUcJb3I.en.%2Fsv%3D1%2Fam%3D%21SQxz7F5VozeYIa9SGw%2Fd%3D1%2Frs%3DAItRSTOkZsGMIewdIBKOELWeH_FqwLsY-w#_methods=onPlusOne%2C_ready%2C_close%2C_open%2C_resizeMe%2C_renderstart%2Conload&amp;id=I0_1343908400369&amp;parent=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk" name="I0_1343908400369" id="I0_1343908400369" vspace="0" tabindex="0" style="position: static; top: 0px; width: 90px; margin: 0px; border-style: none; height: 20px; left: 0px; visibility: visible;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" hspace="0" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="100%"></iframe></div> </li> <li class="full-line email"> <a class="rollover send-email" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/email/1782044" title="Send to a friend"><img src="http://static.guim.co.uk/static/c9f90b3c5bbf96869cb84487a1f269cdfddea69a/common/images/icon-email.png" alt="" class="trail-icon">Email</a> </li> </ul> </div> <div id="content"> <ul class="article-attributes trackable-component b4" data-component="comp: r2: Byline"> <li> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/patrickbarkham" rel="author"> <img class="contributor-pic-small" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/contributor/2007/09/28/patrick_barkham_140x140.jpg" alt="Patrick Barkham" title="Contributor picture" height="60" width="60"> </a> </li> <li id="contrib-shift"><ul> <li class="byline"> <div class="contributor-full"> <a class="contributor" rel="author" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/patrickbarkham"> Patrick Barkham</a> </div> </li> <li class="publication"> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a>, <time datetime="2012-08-01T20:00BST" pubdate="">Wednesday 1 August 2012 20.00 BST</time> </li> <div class="initially-off ma-placeholder-discussion-comment-counts"></div> <script> jQ(document).ready(function(){ jQ.ajax({ url : 'http://static-host.appspot.com/staticfile/discussion/fill-comment-counts-swimlaned2.js', dataType : 'script', type : 'get', crossDomain : true, cache: true }); }); </script> <li class="comment-count"> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/aug/01/athletes-with-adhd#start-of-comments" class="content-comment-count" data-link-name="comment-count" short-url="-p-39edh"><span class="comment-count-text">Jump to comments</span> (<span class="comment-count-val">10</span>)</a> </li> </ul></li> </ul> <div id="article-wrapper"> <div id="main-content-picture"> <img src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2012/8/1/1343842420443/Michael-Phelps-swimming-h-008.jpg" alt="Michael Phelps: swimming helped him with his ADHD." height="276" width="460"> <div class="caption">Michael Phelps: swimming helped him with his ADHD. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images</div> </div> <div id="article-body-blocks"> <p>One has acquired more Olympic medals than any other athlete in history. The other was knocked out of the Games after just 250 seconds. But <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/michaelphelps" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Michael Phelps">Michael Phelps</a> and Ashley McKenzie, the 23-year-old British No 1 judoka, have one thing in common: both have <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder">attention deficit hyperactivity disorder</a> (ADHD), as does another high-profile Olympian, British gymnast <a href="http://www.louis-smith-official.com/" title="">Louis Smith</a>, who this week helped win the first British men's <span class="gia-popupDiscipline" data-discipline_id="GA"><span class="gia-popupAnchor"></span>gymnastics</span> team medal for a century.</p><p>Suddenly, a condition that is hugely stigmatised and still controversial, is unexpectedly in the spotlight. It raises several interesting questions. Does ADHD hinder or help sporting success? And can the Olympics offer a positive legacy for people suffering from it?</p></div></div></div>