It's the personal achievement that counts, you against the clock or your sense of self worth, not you against somebody else.

Unless 'racing' someone will spur you to work harder.

What about number 4 then, he never gets to be on the podium either, why only 3 top spots ? And if you make 4, what about #5 ?

This is irrelevant. In track and field, elite to sub-elite high school boys beat all women ever in the sprints and field events, and even in longer distances the best US high school boys beat the women's world records. In basketball, for instance, the difference is even greater because height makes a big difference -- in fact, D1 women's basketball programs apparently bring in men who are semi-serious intramural basketball players to get better competition in practice.

That was sort of the point, I thought that by comparing a non-sporter with a sporting female that had been made clear.

Utility is not really an issue.

For me, the point of sport is fun - that's why I don't watch Professional Football (soccer), it's all about money, not about fun IMO. The only way I really find fun in sport is doing it.

Yay :) That's it. I could play pong all day or soccer or ride a bike or swim, it really doesn't matter. But to look at the performance of my 'national team' or so doesn't translate into a % of the same feeling of actually doing something.

If you want you can live your whole life second-hand today.

You don't think this is the case? When I was on cross country I usually just tried to pass the person in front of me... having other people to compete with is a huge part of what drives athletes, especially in sports that are directly competitive like basketball as opposed to sports that are about the clock (such as running).