Olympic Speaker Insights on the Infectiousness of Gold

Posted by Vince Poscente on Tue, Feb 11, 2014 @ 05:27 PM

When Canadian, Karen Lee Gartner won Gold in the Women's downhill, it was infectious for the rest of us in the other ski disciplines. Twenty two years later, as an Olympic public speaker, I still remember how contagious another Olympic athlete's experience was.

If memory serves correctly, Karen's highest result in previous world class competition was a 5th in a world cup. The highest world cup result I had was also 5th at a Les Arc World Cup. 

And, yours truly used what I called, The Yahoo Theory.

"If that yahoo and do it, so can I."

The Olympics is an entirely new experience for most athletes. We are normally in our own world. Our circuit is different from all other sports, including the ski disciplines. We never cross paths with figure skaters, hockey players and curlers. 

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Yet, at the Olympic Winter Games, the circle becomes very tight. 3,000 athletes converge into a tight knit community. We exchange stories and ideas. 

But, when a compatriot wins a gold medal, it becomes infectious for the rest of the athletes around him or her. 

NOW... when the media announces that an athlete has "No hope of winning a medal." This is pretty much not the case. Every athlete hopes they can win a medal. Look at the Australian short track speed skating gold medal winner in Salt Lake.

Steven Bradbury trained hard and made the Olympics. In the semi finals guys in front of him fell and he advanced to the finals. In the gold medal round, a handful of speed skaters fell in the last lap and voila... the unlikely hero takes home Gold.

Steven's preparation, persistence and being the right place, at the right time - paid off. No different than any athlete who is more than just an Olympian tourist (there are a few of those).

Enjoy the Olympics and make those Olympic Gold medal dreams an infectious part of your dreams and aspirations.

Tags: Goals, Business Leadership, Inspirational