Yvonne Visser's Travel Diary
December 21, 2005
An Olympic-sized Merry Christmas wish to all
As an athlete, the Olympics may just be one moment in time in all of your
years on the planet but the games somehow, subtly, change your life forever.
Sports are life lessons that translate to skills that will lead you to a
new path upon retirement.
All of this education is applicable and needed in the working world, like
time-management, managing money (or lack thereof), and mental skills most
people would give their eye teeth for.
Sports also teach valuable skills in public speaking, working with the media,
handling success and failure, and training for excellence in every aspect
of life.
These are a few of the skills these Olympians, and many that are not, have
acquired.
But if you have the rare opportunity to make the Canadian Olympic Team, you
take away these skills and a lifetime of carrying a badge of honour that very
few will wear.
Does this then convert into a rapid assortment of career options (with pay!),
and a Christmas bonus?
Being an amateur athlete, not professional, means that you have bills to
pay that far exceed the amount you could earn in years of hard work.
Undoubtedly this Olympic badge will follow you, honour you, and divide you
from your fellows for a lifetime.
The lessons learned under extreme stress are ones most of us remember well.
The real emblem that I am personally thankful for from my Olympic experience
is the ability to stand in front of a group of kids.
I've seen their eyes suddenly sparkle within.
I've seen them take on the word 'hope', as in "I hope to cross country
ski in the Olympics".
Inspire a generation, move a nation.
When I talk to the Canadian skeleton team, and ask them what they hope to
get out of the Olympics, they all say it is the meeting and greeting of all
the different sports, nationalities, and customs that they are looking forward
to.
That's all in addition to a gold medal, of course. The Olympics are an energized
hubbub of voices, intermingled with different languages and blended with the
common understanding and respect of sportsmanship.
It's the international language of a smile that has the power to mend international
relations, cement friendships and kindle new ones. It can do it all without
a single word spoken.
All Olympians are true believers in 'fair play' and those who are the best
racers, on that day, with the same opportunity and equipment should win. No
drugs or 'special' equipment.
The question remains: What does a Canadian athlete get if they win?
In Canada, there are no great amounts of money and no huge career offers.
Mind you, we also have no problems with having food on the table, opportunities
to do as we please, when we want, and health care that keeps us going.
Look at what is available in Canada, compared to say, Latvia, and you have
a whole different view on the meaning of sport and what it means to the athletes,
their families, and their future.
All Canadian athletes are proud to be representing our diverse country, as
we are considered friendly, open and welcoming on the World Skeleton Tour.
Not to mention that more often than not, other athletes view the Canadians
in a higher light, as they are always on the top of the podium.
It is with this in mind that I ask you: What do you the Olympics mean to
you?
Is it a game or a sport?
How much should international relations and politics play in the arena of
sport? We all know politics does playe a role and have many examples where
the athletes are held as pawns for their government as if some chess piece
moved on a world wide chess board.
Or is it like the game of Survivor -- outlast, outwit, outplay?
Christmas is coming and perhaps that is why I am left with the cozy and warm
sensations of peace and joy, and how much sport does encourage these world
wide issues.
My hope and wish is the idealism of international participation and worldwide
respect for the athletes will prevail.
Let these specialists put on a show that will entertain the world for almost
three weeks in February and allow them to share stories, joys and sorrows,
excitement and pleasures while sharing with international cultures.
They have worked many years to get to this level, the top tier and ranking
of the world.
Let them compete for the thrill of achieving their personal best or to have
the earned the opportunity to try.
Let them play clean with no drugs or doctored equipment. Let them finish
this once-in-a life-time experience and say 'wow, that was a great ride'.
My final wish is to bring respect and excitement back to Canada, and share
it with the children, and inspire the next generation of athletes along with
passing onto them the same morals and values.
Merry Christmas all.
Yvonne Visser is a Nanaimo massage therapist and former Olympian who
is part of the health care team with the Canadian Olympic Committee tending
to athletes in Alpine, snowboarding, skeleton, bobsleigh, and luge at the
2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. She is currently on tour with the Canadian
Skeleton Team in Latvia. Her column appears monthly in the Daily News.
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