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ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED AT THE OLYMPICS

Seven summer Olympic veterans share life lessons learned on the playing field.

Text: CHANTAL TRANCHEMONTAGNE

1 | 2 | 3 | AUG '04

Lesson #1
MOVE ON

"Society has decided that the Olympics are the pinnacle of athletic performance. It’s the one event where we say, ‘If you can win there, you are the best.’ I broke the world record two years after the Olympics and nobody cared."

Greg Joy’s high jump in the final day of competition in the Montreal Games was seen as Canada’s last chance to secure a gold medal. In the pouring rain, Joy beat out his American arch-rival, and though he eventually won silver, Canadians treated him as golden. For years after the event, his clip appeared on CBC-TV’s daily sign-on and sign-off.

Greg Joy
Track and field (high jump), 1976.

Lesson #2
ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END

"So many athletes go into some sort of depression after big events like the Olympics. You start questioning what could be more exciting in life. You say, ‘I have more than 60 years left in life to do other things, but what?’ It’s very troubling. I’ve said more than once that the higher you aim, the farther you have to fall."

One week before her synchronized swimming event in Barcelona, Sylvie Fréchette’s boyfriend committed suicide. Though she put on a brave face and came through with a gold medal performance, a judging error gave her silver. She eventually received her gold medal after 16 months and nine days. Four years later in Atlanta, she won a silver in the team event. Fréchette now works for Cirque du Soleil’s O show in Las Vegas.

Sylvie Fréchette
Synchronized swimming, 1992, 1996.

1 | 2 | 3 | AUG '04