We’re making our way from one country to another and back this week, heading with the Attack to Plymouth tonight to face the Whalers in OHL action and then back home immediately afterwards.
Crossing at Sarnia, the thought that’s consuming is, can an athlete get to the Olympics without a country ?
I think of this in light of what commences today in Beaver Creek, Colorado for Owen Sound skier Larisa Yurkiw.
Yurkiw who was essentially dropped by Alpine Canada after last season, refused to accept the decision as being the end of her Olympic dreams.
As such, she embarked on a well-supported, but make no mistake, a mostly solo endeavour to fund, train and now compete on the elite ski tour.
The goal for Larisa Yurkiw is to get to Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics and without question, the greatest determining factor will be her results.
She’ll tell you up-front that her results last year were not satisfactory whatsoever, but within lies the personal staunch belief she’s capable of better. Much better.
And so today, training runs commence at Beaver Creek with World Cup races Friday, Saturday & Sunday on the Colorado slopes.
Maybe I watched too much Disney as a kid, but I can think of no better storyline than an athlete who goes on to represent her country at an Olympic Games when in essence, the sports federation for her discipline deemed that she wasn’t capable of getting there.
That might be fantasy.
The real story for Larisa Yurkiw begins today.
I’m Fred Wallace