National Champion!
I once read a nasty remark by a female track and field sprinter, she said that simply making an Olympic final in track and field sprinting is as hard as winning a gold medal in swimming. In some ultimate sense, she has a point. Track and field is a massive & truly global sport compared to swimming (what nation doesn’t run?).
But in the moral sense, her attitude demeans the blood, sweat, & tears of other athletes, and ultimately devalues her own accomplishments, since there are always nasty and small-minded scales to weigh things where even her own achievements will be lacking.
Is a women’s gold medal harder to earn than a men’s gold medal, for instance? After all, a lot more men participate in sports worldwide. Is a sprinting medal worth less than a marathon? After all, sprinters often get several shots at medals per games, a marathoner only one.
How do you weigh individual accomplishments vs team sports? Is being the MVP of the Superbowl or World Series harder than winning a gold medal in the Olympic games? How about winning the Tour de France?
This is dangerous ground to start treading upon, and ultimately leads to arguments & ruffled feathers, as the “lines in the sand” are different to different people.
What really matters is not the cheers of any crowd, it’s how that medal rests within the althlete themselves, & the sacrifices they made. I did not live the life of that track and field sprinter, or of a swimmer. I have lived and loved and tried and failed & succeeded in my own life. I did not touch a long track till I was 31, and in the bar I set for myself, this race has mattered.
Yesterday I won both the packstyle 500m and 3,000m, clinching the overall category. That lets me call myself a US Speedskating “National Champion”. This was my third trip to Masters Pack Nationals, and my third time trying to reach this goal. The 3,000 was fantastic, they combined my category with the 40-49 guys, and we had a fast, tactical, no-holds barred race. Afterwards, the head ref said to us “now that is how to race a 3k! great job guys!”
I was quite surprised how emotional I got, how deep the warmth of satisfaction when this heavy piece of metal on a red-white-and blue ribbon was hung around my neck. Tom Cole took this picture of me as I stepped off the podium, thanks Tom! It’s a cool looking medal, but to me, the smile is worth more than the medal. Of course this is not an Olympic gold medal, but it feels…. hmmmm…
Many could chuckle, national champion in a tiny sport! Go ahead! over 4 races and 6,000m of racing, I was the fastest guy between age 30-39 who showed up at our National Championships. If you are in my age group and laugh, then you should have been on the start line & tried to go faster than I did (other ages & the entire female gender can laugh freely). This hurdle is sweeter to have finally cleared because twice before I tried hard and failed. Every time I came back to this challenge stronger, more focused, and more prepared.
The whole plane flight home I dozed in and out of an exhausted, happy, incoherent, gauzy sleep. A sleep like sharing a bottle of wine with Jessica and falling asleep curled up with her on the couch. National Champion? me? an intoxicating thought….
I finally woke up as the plane began banking down across the Wasatch Mountains, and the lights of home.
Actually, Those were the lights of Ogden, just north of Salt Lake. This is Salt Lake, looking west towards the Oquirrh Mountains, as the plane was about to touch down. Home! home again! I am so happy to be back.
Filed under: from the coffee shop
Congratulations – You (and Jessica) have worked hard and sacrificed much for this Championship. I hope it is all you dreamed it would be. I can’t wait to be on the start line in Milwaukee with the reining US Speed Skating National Champion!
its worth mentioning to blog readers, that this is a skater whom I know well, and is one of the strong guys I looked up to & learned from when I started. His congrats are meaningful to me…
Its going to be a ton of fun to skate with Danny on an equal footing later this year at the Masters International in Milwaulkee. Danny placed in 6th in the 10k this year at Olmypic trials (2006 was his 3rd Olympic trials), he is quite the distance stud, and has a good turn of speed too..
Danny is one of the guys I think of, when people ask me about the other superstrong masters in the US. I would have loved to have lined up in Minneapolis with Danny, Brian boudreau, maybe toss in Marco Bucci and the 2 fast Kirks I know (Fogdall & Olson) now THAT would have been an insane race!!
Congratulations!
It’s amazing that anyone, from any point of view, would deprecate such an achievement… just seems like complete lack of perspective. For one thing, what’s easy varies hugely from person to person - I could never do any of what you do, but there are things i do easily that most people struggle with at best. Is the achievement more, or less, admirable if it was harder? Does it depend on why it was harder - is hard by virtue of more competition different from hard by virtue of less natural aptitude?
And luck humbles us all.
When you write about the sport, it doesn’t seem tiny, or minor, let alone unimportant. You couldn’t be arrogant if you tried, Andrew, and you deserve every drop of sweetness in that championship.
congrats, andrew.
it’s been a priveledge to tag along with your journey in blogland, and as has been said, a great achievement by any standards and a good example. thanks!
Greg
Andrew, I can’t even get the paper to post my kid’s wins because of “lack of interst” in Speedskating. After all, as Eleanor’s been told, skating isn’t a real sport like soccer or cheerleading.
In any case, you have our sincere congratulations! I can’t wait to see you and Danny race in Milwaukee.
CONGRATS, Mr Champion!!! I’m so happy for you!
Andrew,
What an effort. I can honestly say, I have never seen anyone generate that kind of power off the line. If anyone has not seen Andrew in person it is an explosive bout of athleticism that is hard to comprehend.
I had the misfortune of skating with Andrew in the 3k on Sunday. My legs were fried and confidence was already in the tank when the gun sounded. The only way to describe it was the inline marathon I lined up with Hedrick and after 5 miles when he dropped me and a pack of 50 others like a bad habit, I didn’t know if I could finish the race. Well, Andrew took off in the 3k like he was shot out of a cannon. After about 2 laps he came back to our pack and I let him in. Just when I thought the bleeding might actually stop from my eyeballs, Andrew took off again and stomped on the entire field. Much much more than a typical sprinter. Yo da Man!
I don’t care how many people line up in your age group. You are a true champion!
Jay
Congrats Drew!!
As a former swimmer I say amen! The sweat, time, tears, and sheer willpower it takes to become even average in any sport is amazing.
You wreck me man.
With respect to the deragotory comment by the sprinter… the way I see it, anyone in the world can slap on skates at any point in time. But a lot of people don’t because it’s too cold, or they can’t get to the ice easy enough, or they just can’t skate. So when you win a gold medal (in any sport) or an MVP, or a national championship, well, then you are the best. Plain and simple. Everyone has a choice as to what sport they want to compete in… maybe she should have been a swimmer instead of a sprinter? Right?
Congrats Andy!
I am at a loss for words