Hope you are enjoying watching the Summer Olympics these days. I’m amazed by the physical prowess of the athletes, especially the swimmers and track athletes. I find myself watching everything from gymnastics to weight lifting, from badminton to volleyball although I do draw the line at tennis and basketball.
The athlete who has impressed me the most so far at the Games is Canada’s Clara Hughes. Although she failed to medal in her cycling events, this inspiring thirty nine year old, as CTV host Brian Williams described, is a true Canadian icon.
Following her fifth place finish in the time trial race, the last event of her Olympic career, Hughes said that she has used her sports career as a platform to reach out and help others. How refreshing to hear in this world of million dollar athletes.
Winner of six Olympic medals, two on the bike in 1996 and four more in speed skating at three Winter Olympics, Hughes has also achieved honours for her humanitarian efforts with the Right to Play, an organization that uses sports to encourage the development of youth in disadvantaged areas. More recently, she has become the national spokesperson for sponsor Bell Canada’s Lets Talk campaign in support of mental health services.
A Hughes interview for the Difference Makers series by Rick Hansen caught my attention a few days before her race finale. Clara explained what goes into to training for a cycling event this way.
“I guess emotionally and mentally, what I prepare myself for is facing the pain and embracing it and almost digesting it and using it as fuel.”
What a powerful statement!
Embracing pain, be it a cancer diagnosis, a failing grade or the loss of a job is a novel idea in this medicated world of ours. Digesting the pain and using it as fuel gives meaning to suffering and heartbreak and brings to mind one of my heroes, Terry Fox, who courageously gave of himself for the good of others.
Congratulations Clara! You are a shining reminder to me to continue to try and pay it forward during my cancer remission time, to use my new platform well during my repechage.
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