Limitless Potential
Sometimes I feel like a groupie. At a charity golf tournament last week, I found myself in a room with fifty Olympians. I was there to give a speech for Right to Play, but really, I was excited to meet the athletes I read about all the time. Call me an Olympic junkie, but I just can’t get enough insight on what’s happening in the lives of athletes just like me. There’s always a lesson to be learned.
I’ve come to realize I’m one of few athletes to take interest in other sports. I’m never really surprised when a fellow athlete I’ve known for years is surprised that I am ‘still’ skating. It’s not that I expect people to know everything I’ve done, it’s more that I don’t understand this insulated way of going through life. I am fascinated by process and can’t imagine not knowing or caring about the paths that fellow athletes are on.
On that evening, I met two young athletes I’ve read about for some time. After talking with them, I’m even more curious as to where their paths are leading them. They both reminded me of who I was back when I began to ‘make it’ in the world of sport.
My first Olympic race and first Olympic medal back in the road race in Atlanta, 1996
The first is Patrick Chan. You might know the name. If you don’t, let me introduce you to an amazing young figure skater. He won the silver medal at the world championships last year, and won a few Grand Prix events along the way. He’s literally bursting out of the seams with energy. He’s curious, confident, seemingly naive yet has an edge.
The other is Alex Harvey. As a first year senior in cross country skiing, a sport known for incredible depth, he won two world cup medals. The kid is driven. He has vision that has allowed for this early success and – he must have some good advice from Pierre – clearly he knows where he’s going and exactly how he’s going to get there. For twenty years I’ve done the same thing: forged my own path in the way I felt was best for development and, specifically, performance. Going against the grain of the system is not the easiest path. Alex has fire and I like this. In place of an attitude one might expect from someone so young and good, there is an excitement that is simply contagious.
They’re both going to compete in their first Olympics. They have a hunger for excellence that I also feel as I prepare for my fifth. Patrick mentioned people telling him how “the first Olympics are for experience” and “not to worry about results”. He told me didn’t know if there will ever be another. I remember my first Olympics, and how certain people tried to impose those very limitations on me. It only solidified the intense motivation to be better than I ever had. I knew I had the capability to be the best. Why else would I train so much? For experience? I shared these thoughts with Patrick, hoping my words outweighed the other advice.
Alex, with all he’s been through fighting the system and the expectations of the team, was nothing but positive about the here and the now. He’s in Canmore to train and loving it. In fact, that guy is loving everything. I wish he was on my team.
Every day in training, I realize I am no longer young and fresh like these two guys. However, I still see myself in their process. That’s one reason I constantly expose myself to people who are dreaming big and connected to what they are doing in a positive way. These ‘kids’ have brought me closer to the mindset of limitless potential.
I’ll be reading about them as their paths unfold. I encourage you to, as well.
