May 13, 2010
Good Old Olympics Grit
I've said it many times before:  I admire GRIT.  Smarts and abilities are not enough.  They need to be riveted to grit.         Grit got Seth Wescott a gold medal in the finals of the men's snowboard cross at the Vancouver Olympics, where many others would have slid into oblivion.        He started out badly.  In his qualifier, he slipped and spun 360 degrees and ultimately ended up ranked 17th out of 32 athletes to start the heats - which meant that he wouldn't get a good lane choice.         Instead of moaning and complaining, or losing his motivation, he told himself:  "OK, I'm going to have to work damned hard for this."        At the starting gate in the finals, he said something to himself like "You've got to go get this one."        He was last from the start, BUT he managed to come home to Maine, as an Olympic gold medalist for the second time.        He didn't think of anything but the moment and the moves - no looking back with dismay, no beating himself up, and no giving up.  THAT is my definition of an Olympic athlete!And, obviously, I'm writing this story because this is the way you should approach everything in life!

Posted by Staff at 1:08 AM