Olympic Eligibility

LaShawn Merritt, a champion. Or is he? I read an article about his eligibility being reinstated. This was originally in the New York Times. What are your thoughts about this? Do you think that once an athlete pays his/her dues they should be eligible to compete again or do you think once a cheater, always a cheater?



The Olympic 400-meter champion LaShawn Merritt of the United States and possibly dozens of other athletes had their eligibility for the 2012 London Games restored Thursday when a doping punishment put in place by the International Olympic Committee was struck down as overly severe.


The Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Switzerland, nullified a 2008 I.O.C. rule that barred athletes who had served a doping suspension of six months or longer from competing in the next Olympics, even if they had completed their original sanctions.


In its ruling Thursday, the sports appeals court called the I.O.C.’s rule “invalid and unenforceable” and said it violated the statutes of the World Anti-Doping Agency, which was created to bring about uniform handling of cases involving banned substances. Essentially, a Court of Arbitration for Sport panel ruled that athletes were being penalized twice for the same offense.


The most visible beneficiary of the ruling Thursday is Merritt, who won a gold medal in the 400 at the 2008 Beijing Games. He was later suspended from competition for 21 months after testing positive for a steroid found in a male-enhancement product.


Although Merritt’s suspension ended in July, he would have still faced a ban from the London Games had the I.O.C. rule not been overturned, even though the substance he took was designed to enhance sexual performance, not athletic performance.


“LaShawn is really happy with the result,” his lawyer, Howard Jacobs, said in a telephone interview. “If you serve your suspension, you should be able to return to competition, and that is all competition.”


Merritt will be among the favorites as he tries to repeat as 400-meter champion next summer. At the recent world track and field championships in Daegu, South Korea, he finished second in the open 400 and helped the United States win the 4x400-meter relay.


Thursday’s ruling could also affect the British Olympic Association, which has a rule that bars its athletes from the Winter and Summer Games for life if they commit a serious doping offense. Now the chances for the British sprinter Dwain Chambers and the cyclist David Millar to compete in the London Games could have gained newfound traction.


About 50 track and field athletes had their chances of competing in London elevated by the ruling, according to the I.A.A.F., the sport’s governing body.


The I.O.C. rule had not been met with uniform acceptance in the Olympic and antidoping worlds. Both the United States Olympic Committee and the United States Anti-Doping Agency had supported the restoration of Merritt’s eligibility. The I.O.C. and the U.S.O.C. had taken the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, seeking clarity on eligibility issues.


“This decision does not diminish our commitment to the fight against doping, but rather ensures that athletes and national Olympic committees have certainty as they prepare for London,” Scott Blackmun, chief executive of the U.S.O.C., said in a statement.


The I.O.C. said in a statement that it “fully respects” the ruling of the arbitration panel but expressed disappointment at the outcome. The Olympic committee also said it would attempt to have the rule restored when the World Anti-Doping Agency bylaws are revised in 2013.


“The I.O.C. has a zero tolerance against doping and has shown and continues to show its determination to catch cheats,” the committee said in a statement. “We are therefore naturally disappointed since the measure was originally adopted to support the values that underpin the Olympic movement and to protect the huge majority of athletes who compete fairly.”

Strength and Determination

I read an article recently that really made me consider how we, as individuals treat our lives, our futures, out present moments. Our attitude determines our lives, simple as that.

It was by John Crumpacker,  a Chronicle Staff Writer  from The San Francisco Chronicle (California) on April 13, 2011


If you have ever been injured, this should help you to realize our own limitations, power and internal strength. I would love to meet Erica, and although I probably won't, I will carry her spirit and her strength in my soul forever.

America's best female triple jumper is not jumping these days. She's scooting.
The smile on Erica McLain's face and her upbeat outlook belie the gruesome injury she sustained March 7 while training at Stanford, her alma mater. Listening to her recount the specifics of the ghastly mishap is cringe-inducing.
"I felt like a wounded animal," she said.

With her right leg bent at the knee and resting on the padded seat of her scooter, she explained how a potentially majestic jump turned all wrong in a hurry when on the second of the jump's three phases her right foot landed partially on the runway and partially in the sand, causing a severe roll-over of the foot.

"I was having the practice of my life," the 2008 Olympian said. "I hit on the edge, with part of my heel on the track and my toes in the sand, and it made my ankle almost flip over 180 degrees so the sole of my shoe was face-up."
That was just the start, however.

"My shin bones, the tibia and fibula, popped out of the skin," McLain said with disarming calm. "It was pretty gruesome. There was a tendon on the inside of my foot that had to be reattached. It's incredibly rare. There's very little documentation on it. There are about 600 a year of this kind of open dislocation."

Incredibly, no bones were broken when McLain crashed and landed in agony in the sand pit, her wails attracting the ministrations of coaches and trainers. Emergency medical care arrived in short order.

"Fire trucks, ambulance, all the trainers came out," she said. "It took them 40 minutes to get me out of the pit. They put some morphine into me, and they had to call a doctor to get approval for more morphine."

From the sand pit at Cobb Track and Angell Field, McLain was rushed to the trauma unit at nearby Stanford Hospital, where she spent five days and endured two surgeries to clean the sand from her wound and reset her tibia and fibula.

McLain said she considers herself lucky that she didn't break any bones: "Phenomenal. It will help my recovery."

Weeks after that awful day, McLain was still unable to walk on her own. Her lower right leg was encased in a boot, and she also had crutches to get around in addition to her nifty black scooter with the basket on the front.

At the Stanford Invitational track meet two weeks ago, McLain helped out at the very pit where her accident occurred. She posted jumpers' marks on the results board after their jumps.

"I'm so lucky to have gone to Stanford, where the medical staff is still taking care of me," she said. "I'm so thankful. I have a good support system. I was five days in the hospital and I was never alone. Lots of balloons and stuffed animals."

Although one doctor who treated the 25-year-old athlete told her she would never triple jump again "I stopped working with him because I'm not going to deal with that kind of negativity," she said, another doctor who looked at her medical history of overcoming injuries said it's possible she could return to competition.

"I think I'd bet on her," said Stanford track coach Edrick Floreal, who was there that day and rushed to his athlete's aid. "It was more gruesome being there than imagining it. She's a tough kid. She really wants to come back. She has the whole year to get back."

McLain, in fact, wants to write an inspiring story of her comeback, just in time for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Prior to her injury, she was the best woman triple jumper in the country, with a personal best of 47 feet, 1/4 inch, the No. 5 mark in U.S. history and not far from the American record of 47-5 by Tiombe Hurd from 2004.

"It's going to be on me and my willpower," McLain said. "I think the rehab is going to be more painful than the injury itself. Rehabbing without morphine is going to be tough. I was on track to break the American record this year, and I'm not going to let this stop me. It's just going to be a new story, a story of a miraculous recovery on the way to the Olympic Games."

How's your training going?

We all have a different idea about how hard we work, how much sacrifice we make, how disciplined we are. I have friends who tell me about their workout and it sounds absolutely easy and boring. Mine sounds grueling to my husband. We are all very, very different.

We all see the world through a different set of lenses.

I do know that there are rare individuals who put more effort into their training than most of us, individuals who have a drive that just isn't found in many people and you will now read about one.

After reading this article I started wondering if I was really pushing myself as hard as possible. I go to the gym every single day without fail. I have a written plan, I record what I do, but am I pushing myself as hard as I can or am I just wasting my time, getting up early to go hang at the gym?

I went to the gym the following morning, it was shoulder day. I used heavier weights than I had been using in a long time. It was really hard. I wanted to stop. My shoulders ached in the afternoon. They would undoubtedly be sore the next day.

I challenge you to do the same. Are you training as hard as possible every day? Are you even going to the gym?

I don't think we have any valid excuses not to.

This is an article by Lenny Bernstein, a fitness columnist for the Washington Post.

How's your exercise routine going? Are you hitting the gym consistently, putting in your 30 minutes a day, maybe even 60? Are you doing your reps, pounding out the miles, sticking with the program -- even in the face of work and family obligations and the hassles posed by the weather? Feeling pretty good about that?

Meet Aaron Heo.

His typical workout lasts 3 1/2 hours. An hour, sometimes 90 minutes, is cardio work, a relentless regimen of 1,000-meter sprints at breakneck speed. The rest of the time is devoted to a lengthy warm-up, followed by stamina, strength and flexibility work. That can mean 1,000 to 2,000 squats per session, along with stretching, jogging and plyometrics. Then he strains against a canvas belt held by a bigger, stronger friend or coach: back and forth, over and over again.
He does this, on average, four days a week. Another two days a week, he trains on his own.

Aaron is 10 years old.

He and his family live in Warrington, Pa., north of Philadelphia, but Aaron trains here in Wheaton, Laurel and Arlington. On Thursdays, his mother begins the five-hour round-trip drive with Aaron and his 8-year-old brother, Andrew (another promising local short-track champion) after school. They arrive home after midnight, and she trundles the youngsters off to bed and gets them up for school the next morning. They come back on Friday afternoons and stay through Sunday, living in an apartment they have rented in Laurel. Aaron's father joins them by train on Saturdays.

Aaron, a fifth-grader, is one of the best short-track speedskaters in the United States for his age, and this is the life he and his family have chosen so he can train with Dong-Sung Kim, the 1998 Olympic gold medalist, at the Arlington-based Potomac Speedskating Club.

If all goes as planned, Aaron will be standing on the podium at the conclusion of age-group championships during the first week of March, a few weeks after the Olympic speedskating competition ends in Vancouver, B.C.

It is a life of endless sacrifice for both Aaron and his parents, of rigid discipline to make it all work. He has a few friends from school, where, by the way, he also excels academically. But mostly, his friends are other speedskaters and the siblings and parents of speedskaters, all of whom have formed a close-knit extended family centered on Kim and the Washington area rinks where they spend so many evenings and early mornings.

The sport attracts Asian Americans, particularly Korean Americans such as Aaron and Andrew, whose compact body type is suited to its demands. In South Korea, speedskating is something of a national sport.

Aaron's dream is to skate in the Olympics, to win a medal like the coach who is training him with a careful eye, shouting words of encouragement and instruction as Aaron takes yet another corner, fearlessly flying around the ice, his form flawless, other tiny, speeding youngsters in pursuit.

"We just want to support him as long as he wants to continue," says his mother, Jennifer Heo.

Aaron's father, Peter, owns an auto repair shop in Philadelphia. In addition to the expenses of everyday life, the family pays $1,200 a month for ice time and coaching and $1,500 a month for the apartment, plus the cost of the commute. Speedskate boots run about $1,000 a pair; Aaron and Andrew go through a pair each year. The long, razor-sharp blades are $400 to $500 a pair; the boys need two or three pairs each year.

The skating itself is a breathtaking workout. Kim divides about 50 skaters into three groups based on their abilities. Aaron's group will sprint through a nine-lap, 1,000-meter race in 1 minute 45 seconds, then skate slowly in circles while the other groups take their turns. Then he is back at it again.



Jennifer Heo admits to some concerns about the rigors of the training, whether that much physical exertion could harm her son. But she trusts Kim and his methods. Peter Heo says his son's doctor has voiced no opposition to the workouts. He believes the exercise makes his son both physically exceptional and mentally focused. On the report card he received the other day, Aaron was once again on the honor roll.

"The training he does, the coaching, keeps him up with his studies," Peter says. "It makes him focus on his studies."

CeCe LeBauer, president of the Potomac Speedskating Club, says that while Kim is old-school in his training methods, he is careful to adjust his demands to the age and abilities of the skaters, who range in age from 5 to older than 50.

And in the meantime, Aaron will do what is necessary to realize his dream.


Kim "is an Olympic gold medalist," Jennifer says. "That's why we're here."

The Mind

We all face many challenges in our lives every single day. Some challenges are small and some are huge.  Some may seem bigger than they really are, because of how we view them.

I have noticed that many individuals involved in bodybuilding or Figure are very religious, I couldn't really figure out why, it always puzzled me, I mean I didn't all of a sudden become "born again" after I started competing....

Eventually I was able to piece it all together, it's really the power of the mind.

Huge sacrifices must be taken when competing in anything. Although Figure and Bodybuilding are sports based on physique and not athletic ability, the sacrifices are just as great.

The athlete must be willing to train at the expense of everything else, they need to view their training as essential to life as breathing, you just don't stop doing it.

They must adhere to the proper diet when they don't want to, there are times I come home and am nauseous as I try to eat, but I have to eat, eating immediately after training is a must, and it is very difficult if you have trained hard.

They must forgo late evenings out partying, when friends and family are all celebrating, it's not something they can always do with everyone else, just because Christmas comes once a year, if there is a completion soon, too bad, no celebration. 

The athlete must believe that they are successful, that they will win, that there is no other obvious choice, they are the one. They must believe in themselves to push themselves every single day.

Some need to believe in something higher than themselves to keep them going.

Do you think an Olympic athlete says to herself "I hope I win this gold medal"?, no, she says "I will win this gold medal!"

Everyday we talk ourselves out of our successes because we don't believe in our own abilities.

I wake up everyday, I tell myself I will have a great session at the gym, I look forward to it. I walk through the gym as though it exists only for me (and funny, some people there even tell me that! ha ha)


I set myself up to be successful.

Being a Figure competitor has not altered my beliefs, I am not religious. I think Arnold Swarzenegger was also one of the best bodybuilders in modern history, but I am not a Republican either.

Below is a video of Arnold talking about the power of the mind. It is long, 9 minutes, but it is worth watching.

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Champions

What is a champion?

What makes someone a champion?

Here are some definitions of the word champion:

1.a person who has defeated all opponents in a competition or series of competitions, so as to hold first place: the heavyweight boxing champion. 

2.a person who fights for or defends any person or cause: a champion of the oppressed. 

3.a fighter or warrior. 

It's number 3 that I focus in on because that proves that each of us is a champion . Although we may have different goals and dreams, we are all champions.

We all  live for something different yet no one has a more important reason than anyone else. We are all champions in our own endeavors.

I am a champion because I keep pushing myself harder and harder to achieve a level of physical health that is better every year.  My physician will tell you I am doing this quite well, in fact, he says I am "an interesting and unusual subject".

My son (above), is a champion because he plays lacrosse 24/7, is on three different teams at once and even traveled to Canada this summer to play the Canadians! (Yes that is blood on his chin).

There are some people who are finally able to walk without the aid of a cane or a walker who are champions.

An Olympic athlete winning a medal is a champion.

My husband is a champion for the award winning wines he makes.

A child winning a spelling bee is a champion.

My father, who just underwent his first chemotherapy infusion on Monday is a champion. He is fighting hard for something many of us will never be able to even imagine, and it is far more difficult than anything I have ever done.


You are a champion. Don't let others tell you any differently. Whatever you are fighting for, believe in yourself, believe in your ability, believe in your right to achieve success, remember that YOU ARE A CHAMPION and never give up.

Below is an inspirational video that brings tears to my eyes each time I hear the speech. I have posted  this same speech before, but it was to a group of high school football players, it was a much different setting.


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