Great honors

Today I had the greatest honor I have had in my life.

I was supposed to be a referee in today's TransKid aquathlon. I was supposed to help with the swimming part of the event, too. I found out I was also supposed to accompany a special guest who indicated that she wanted to help.

I was standing by the pool with my starter horn, ready to set the kids off on their race. The club vice-president asked me to accompany Nicola Thost, Olympic gold medalist in snowboarding (halfpipe, 1998 Nagano).

Of course, I was glad to do so. At first, I have to admit, I wasn't as impressed. There are some Olympic sports I don't really understand. And the Winter Games don't hold as much prestige for me as the Summer Games.

I quickly realized, though, that this is wrong. Nicola is an Olympic gold medalist. That means that she was the best in the world at what she did. That means something.

My first honor was to delegate my duties for starting the race to her. She started the first two waves. I absorbed the energy of an Olympian, a gold medalist.

Then came an even greater honor. I was to accompany Kate Allen, Olympic gold medalist in triathlon (2004 Athens). Thank you Trigantium for assigning me that duty! The honor is greater because triathlon is my chosen sport and, well, we're both native speakers of English.

I was more than happy to delegate my duties for starting the races to her, too. She started the next waves. I absorbed even more gold-medalist energy.

I met her briefly in May for a quick photo. She gave a talk at a triathlon camp I was attending. As she said, I was probably the only one in the audience who understood every word she said. It was after her speech that a switch went off in my head. I was more than merely content. I became happy. I chose to stop drinking alcohol (well, still the occasional beer). I started to really focus on my sport. I decided to take the lessons I learned from sport and apply them to other aspects in my life. I decided to start confronting the challenges facing me. It wasn't just what she said (of which I can only remember a small part). It wasn't just her story. It wasn't just that she was an Olympic gold medalist (though it that was a great part of it). Her speech came at the right time in my life. (And yes, I will admit, I am a little starstruck).

To become an Olympian — in any sport, any discipline — requires a certain mentality, a certain way of life, a certain drive and desire to win. Science is trying to find what this is and has progressed a long way in defining it. But it is something that cannot be defined by science. When you are an Olympian, you are the best in your country. You have competed locally, nationally, even internationally. You are ready for the world stage. As I said earlier, when you are an Olympic medalist, you are among the best in the world. This is simply not achievable by everybody. You must have the right physical skills. Additionally, you must have the right emotional, mental, and spiritual skills.

Nicola and Kate are just normal women in many ways. They have daily lives trying to make ends meet, taking care of kids, bleeding and sweating, all just like the rest of us. They are approachable and quite friendly. They both also have what it takes to be the best in the world.

Whatever you call that, I was soaking it up from the both of them.

As Kate and I were chatting and watching the kids swim, I noticed somebody familiar standing next to me. It was Magdalena. Magdalena is the girl our club adopted through a local charity. She requires a carbon prosthesis because her other prostheses are not working out for her. She has suffered more than that one tragedy in her life. And yet, she is a gem. She is always smiling. She is intelligent. She is full of positive energy. She is constantly saying "the funny thing is...". This is in sharp contrast to many of my work colleagues who often say "the problem is...".

It was yet even a greater honor to introduce Magdalena to Kate. I don't know which of the two exuded more positive energy. I was just standing near the both of them absorbing as much as I could. Kate handed Magdalena the starting horn and Magdalena started the last wave of the TransKid. It was special.

At the end of the race, I accompanied Kate to the awards ceremony. She was glad to hand the kids their prizes.

Before that, though, there was the obligatory thank you to the mayor and the organizers of the various events. The TransKid was part of the TransVorarlberg celebration. Our club was the organizer for the TransKid. So, Gabriel went up and very publicly announced that we had raised more than enough money to fund Magdalena's prosthesis. This was in the form of one of those oversized checks made out to Magdalena for the amount we as a club raised (thank you to all who contributed!). Now this corner of the world knows who we are, that this is what we care about. Not just sport, but bringing sport to others, bringing sport to kids and especially to kids who might not have it so easy.

As I said, I had the greatest honor today meeting and talking with these three remarkable women.