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Written by Brian Olsen
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Saturday, 15 July 2006 00:00 |
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Location: Jericho, VT
When I first started in this sport, there were dozens and dozens of athletes. Most of them were better than me, and I was certainly ranked far, far back. Training camps were as much about having fun as they were about becoming better athletes. Just qualifying for World Junior Championships was a huge goal. The reward was the clothing we received, the jacket we could proudly wear around the next season that said we had made it.
Many years later, I find myself now at the top of the national level. Those dozens and dozens of athletes have become now just eight. Many found college and the well-defined road of life more appealing. Others didn’t have the motivation or the talent. A few trained too much. A handful quit out of protest over a decision made by a coach or the organization. While no one was voted off directly, it feels like a decade-long season of Survivor.
As far back as my first World Junior Championships, the one held amid blizzard Siberian conditions in 2001, I remember that the prevailing feeling among many of the members was that qualifying wasn’t good enough. Once you qualified, you had to perform internationally. Six of us from that team were on the 2006 Olympic Team. That deep desire to perform well, not just qualify for the Olympic Games, continued. At the Games, there was little time for enjoying the experience. We were focused.
That intense focus and dedication showed in the results, but also in the execution. As I ran along the course beside my teammates on every loop in the men’s relay, it never seemed odd to me that we were in first place, now top three, and finally top ten. Everything was against us just meeting our goal of a top-ten finish, but each of the four guys belonged among the best in the world every lap I saw them there.
This past week, the team came together for its first training camp of the Olympic cycle, the one leading up to Vancouver 2010. We met our new coaches, Per Nilsson and Mikael L öfgren, both exceptional coaches on their own, but the best coaching duo when combined together. While we never discussed what the goals for the team would be for the coming four years, I have the impression that the results will exceed any expectations that I had before the camp began two weeks ago.
Sometimes I wonder what life would be like today if I too had found that college and the well-defined highway of life that inevitably ensues was more appealing than this sport. What would it be like if I had given up, or been forced to give up because of an injury, financial circumstances, or outside pressures. The alternatives still appeal to me every day. Having sacrificed them makes me feel now like I had better not waste this opportunity.
Through sport, I have seen some stunning places, met so many interesting people, and learned that the limits of human potential will never be reached. I’ll keep these important lessons with me for the rest of my life. All that there is left to do now is business – to train hard, improve, and perform my best. It won’t be fun every day, but the journey and ultimate reward will be worth the sacrifices.
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