Growing up, I can remember idolizing a certain speed skater named Eric Heiden. He was the fastest skater I had ever seen and only lived two states away, so he was very real to me. I watched the "Up Close and Personal" segment with Jim McKay and got to see all of the inside secrets as to how he trained. Then I went out to the barn and tried to recreate the sliding panel he had on his workout room floor in Wisconsin. Then, in the sub zero Indiana winter, I took my shoes off and struggled to imitate what I had seen my idol do, so effortlessly, on TV. To say it was a mess would be an incredible understatement! I can tell you it was much less painful than trying to learn the "Fosbury Flop" in my homage to Bruce Jenner in the summer of '76! But Olympians do that to us as kids...and sometimes as adults too.
Here in Plymouth Indiana, we have an Olympian, I believe, for the first time. Her name is Morgan Uceny, and I can bet there will be girls all over the country watching the Olympics that will try to train just like her, and be just like her.
I've never lived in a town that had an Olympian and I can tell you it is really exciting. Seeing people wearing the wrist bands in support of her and her family makes me feel good about the community in which I live. I can't wait to sit around the TV with friends and watch her run. It doesn't matter if she wins or not, at least not to us. She is an Olympian no matter what happens now, and no one can take that away from her. An incredible accomplishment to say the least.
So what stories do you have? Did you train like a champion after seeing your first Olympics? Did you have an Olympian in class at some point? Was Morgan your student? This is your chance to tell the world your story and share your experience with friends. Nothing inspires us as Americans like these stories, and nothing brings us closer together as humans than these two weeks, every two years.
Image: Courtesy Patrick Hoesly via Flickr
I remember having Morgan in a Pre-Calculus class. No surprise, she was as diligent in the classroom as she was on the basketball court as well as the track. If my memory serves me correctly, that was the year she decided to abandon basketball and devote herself fully to running. Although it may have been a tough choice, it sure seems like she made the right one. Great things happen when you work hard for them and it takes hard work to accomplish great things.
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