Andrea Dupont

I was one of those fortunate people that my job required me to attend part of the Olympic winter games. I have been running a nation-wide club cross country ski program in which some of the participants were given a chance to experience the first 5 cross country events.

It was amazing to experience first hand the excitement and energy of the games; so much fun to cheer on the Canadian girls I train with and so many inspiring performances.

 Although I did not get to witness all of these events first hand, these are my inspirational pick’s from the games.

Inspiration #1 – Charlotte Kalla – skate & relay

Ever since her ‘Tour de Ski’ victory Charlotte Kalla has been one of my favourite skiers. At the Tour de Ski she showed everyone that she was one of the best climbers on the world cup circuit when she made up more than 30 seconds to pass the leader in the final ‘hill climb stage’ where the race starts at the base of a downhill resort and finishes at the top. Kalla surprised everyone at the Olympics by winner this first skate race since this course is not a climber’s course at all. I will try and attach a link to this most inspiring video of her ‘Tour de ski’ victory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvQv_y6-kKw

Inspiration #2 – Petra Majdic – sprint

Petra Majdic fell in the warm up for the women’s cross country sprint race. She fell off the trail into a tree hole, breaking 1 ski, 2 poles, 5 ribs and puncturing a lung. If you have not seen footage of this you should youtube it, because it is crazy. Later that day she raced to a bronze medal finish. Cross country sprint racing requires you to race 4 times in the same day to make it to a medal spot. You could see the grimace of pain on her face with each heat and she literally collapsed in pain after each race. It is unbelievable what one can block out when you are so focused on a goal. This is the race she had trained for her entire career and although she did not earn gold she really gave it her all.

In response to having missed her chance at a gold medal she stated, “In a way that no gold medal would inspire so many people, I realize this inspires now… It was really worth it to show the people of the world never give up on your dreams and at least try to make your best. It is enough. You will be rewarded personally. Just follow your dreams, just follow them.”

Inspiration #3 – Canadian Men’s in the Pursuit

Historically Canada does not have a record of strong results in Cross country skiing. We’ve had our break through performances of Pierre Harvey, Becky Scott, Sarah Renner and Chandra Crawford, but often our cross country skiers struggle to be consistently in the top 30 let alone be on the podium. In fact, the best any Canadian male had ever done at the Olympics before Vancouver was 15^th. After years of hard work, the Canadian men finally made their breakthrough in the Olympic pursuit with 3 men in the top 9 and the other finishing 16^th. Not too shabby for a nation that no one expected to be a threat on the World cup stage!

Inspiration #4 – Men’s relay

Peter Northug of Norway and Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic were the reason that their respective countries earned a medal on relay day. Don’t get me wrong, the rest of their teams skied well, but both teams put these individuals in places where they had some serious time to make up to stay in contention. Bauer was the second leg of the Czech’s team and his team mate tagged off already having lost  25 seconds to the leaders. Bauer responded, skiing an incredible leg of the relay and catching his team back up with the leaders and they were able to hang on for a bronze medal. Northug was similarly handed off in the final leg, about 27 seconds off of the lead, and what seemed completely out of reach of a medal. Northug dug deep and made up 22 seconds, passing and dropping teams along the way and finishing in the silver medal position.

Inspiration #5 – Canadian Figure Skater – Joannie Rochette

Most Canadians followed this heart breaking story so I won’t say much. This girl skated to her potential under the toughest of circumstances. I will leave you with the word of the song she skated her gala performance to.

Celine Dion –

Vole

 
Vole vole petite aile
Ma douce, mon hirondelle
Va t’en loin, va t’en sereine
Qu’ici rien ne te retienne
Rejoins le ciel et l’éther
Laisse-nous laisse la terre
Quitte manteau de misère
Change d’univers

Vole vole petite sœur
Vole mon ange, ma douleur
Quitte ton corps et nous laisse
Qu’enfin ta souffrance cesse
Va rejoindre l’autre rive
Celle des fleurs et des rires
Celle que tu voulais tant
Ta vie d’enfant

Vole vole mon amour
Puisque le nôtre est trop lourd
Puisque rien ne te soulage
Vole à ton dernier voyage
Lâche tes heures épuisées
Vole, tu l’as pas volé
Deviens souffle, sois colombe
Pour t’envoler

Vole, vole petite flamme
Vole mon ange, mon âme
Quitte ta peau de misère
Va retrouver la lumière