Well, no, of course I have never competed in the Olympic Games. But I have been a fan of many competitors in those events.
I have attended two Games as a fan — Atlanta in 1996 and Salt Lake City in 2002. I know the Games have flaws, I know the Games have shortcomings. So do I. I like them anyway.
The result that made me the happiest was a speed skating race in 1994, when, in his last ever Olympic competition, in Lillehammer, one minute and twelve point four three seconds of intense racing brought Dan Jansen gold in the 1,000 meters. He was such a fine racer, such a magnificent sprinter, the thought of him ending his career without Olympic Gold would have been hard, indeed. Instead, he is living the remainder of his years as an Olympic Gold Medalist. Now and forever more. His nearly endless hours of hard work and investment rewarded.
I have not re-watched that race in ten years or more, but watching it today brings tears anew, in joy at seeing his fine achievement, at seeing his reward, after the death of his beloved sister in 1988.
It fills me with joy today to know that he has spent all of the years since with that medal, that status. Belated congratulations, Dan Jansen. And thank you for the gift. I won’t forget it.
I was thinking about Dan Jansen this morning in the context of two races last night.
In 2006, in Turin, Lindsey Jacobellis was leading the finals of the first-ever Olympic Snowboard Cross event with an all-but-insurmountable lead of three seconds, when, in celebration, she hotdogged a little bit, and fell, having to settle for silver. As if an Olympic Silver Medal could ever be a shame. Yet, in years since, she has had to answer nearly endless questions about that, about whether she might have regrets, about whether she might wish she could have the moment back.
But last night, in what may be her final Olympics, Lindsey Jacobellis won Gold, finishing first in her beloved Snowboard Cross. I thought about Dan Jansen because it was the last time I was so happy with a result. Very well done, young woman. Most deserved. And now you can live the rest of YOUR life as a gold medalist, and no one can take it away. Congratulations! And thank you for the gift. I won’t forget it.
Also, last night, Mikaela Shiffrin missed a gate in her second consecutive Olympics race. She didn’t fall, but she skied slowly to the edge of the course, well out of the way so the competition could continue, and she just spend private time with herself, in probably the only place on earth where she could do that. Finally she skied down to the finish to the inevitable questions, the focus on ‘failure,’ the focus on mistakes, errors, letting people down.
Dear Mikaela, I can only speak for myself. But do please listen. In no way have you let me down, ever. There will never be a race where you have to do anything to please me. There will never be a race where you have to achieve anything to please me. Your career has been a series of gifts from the earliest days. You are the most brilliant, the most incredible skier I have ever seen (uncompromised respect to Lindsey Vonn), and no one race, no ten races, no hundred races will ever change that. You will never owe me anything, and I don’t think you owe anyone anything (and to hell with anyone who thinks you do).
So please be at peace about those two races. Race the remaining races in this Olympic Games — if it is right for you to do so — with joy and exuberance and abandon.
And whatever you do, think of Dan Jansen’s great success, and Lindsey Jacobellis’s fine success. And remember that, like them, you will remain an Olympic Gold Medalist (two times over, at least!) for the rest of your life. Your place in Alpine Skiing is forever assured, your place in the Olympics is forever assured. So you be at peace, and think about the many gifts you have already given us, your fans. And know as a certainty that there will be more, and that they will be ‘enough.’
Congratulations, Mikaela. And thank you for the gifts. I won’t forget.
And I am not alone.