Athletes still ignite the Olympic spirit

remember seeing Carl Lewis break world records during the 1984 Olympics at the Coliseum. My mom and I were going crazy. The packed crowd was cheering intensely, yelling out, "Caruuull! Caruuull!" Since that moment, my intrigue, appreciation and fascination for the Olympics remained strong.

During the summer of 1998, I had the opportunity to swim in the Barcelona Olympic pool for a day. I did. I imagined that I was an Olympic athlete, swimming the 200-meter butterfly on the championship day, competing with the greatest athletes from around the world athletes who train morning after morning, day after day, night after night in order to reach their lifelong dreams. After the first grueling 100 meters, I was out of breath. Not only that, my arms would not reach above the water surface they became metal rods, too heavy to lift. I realized the intense training Olympic athletes struggle through to become champions.

What is a champion, exactly? Is it someone who wins gold medals? Or even silver medals? What about no medals? What about the athletes who never reach their lifetime hopes and dreams to squeeze themselves into a spot in the Olympic Games?

Champions are the people who know their passions and give everything that they have inside to make them a reality ethically and responsibly. They continuously set goals for personal achievement and reach them. Champions are the people who are deaf to the words "impossible," "not a chance," "too difficult" or "better off trying something else." They are the people who do not feel defeat or failure. A champion sees opportunity and feels passion.

How do we become champions? That is a question that even champions cannot easily answer. Why? Because everyone is their own champion. No two champions take the same road to success and triumph. Each individual champion values their own personal experiences, lessons, passions and goals.

A person's passion, drive, motivation and excitement for life cannot be given, nor taken away from the person. This is unique to each and every individual. However, by acquiring certain skills and developing specific habits, we can build upon our character the type of character that a majority of Olympic champions share. This is where we can learn from our Olympic athletes, take what they teach us and implement their lessons into our own lives, to reach our own personal goals.

Characteristics such as persistence, punctuality, preparation and focus help to guide an Olympic athlete to success. For example, let's take 2000 gold medalist Lenny Krayzelburg. He prepares for Olympic competition by training both physically and mentally. He is on time for practice punctuality. He makes his goal for gold a foremost priority in his life. He persists through his challenging workout. Focusing on what needs to be done increases his mental concentration. Developing a consistent workout routine helps to build his discipline.

As students, we can focus on a personally tailored program that helps us by developing and using these characteristics reach our goals. These characteristics are extremely important for success. However, without passion, drive, motivation, excitement and determination, reaching our goals will lose meaning.

That is why it is important to choose a direction in life that sparks our passion and excites us to choose goals that challenge and motivate us. How great it is to wake up every morning feeling excited about taking the next step to reach that burning goal!

After watching former USC star Lenny Krazelburg take a double gold in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke last week in Sydney, I felt as if I could accomplish anything I set my mind and heart to. How exhilarating and exciting it is to achieve such a lifelong dream!

We must learn from the Olympic dream. We must learn the discipline and persistence, feel the passion and motivation and develop the vision to achieve our personal goals in life. We all have what it takes to be champions. The Olympics exemplify the determination and passion of the human spirit pushed to its maximum.

We may not see the sweat and pain the Olympic athletes struggle through for the opportunity to compete in the Olympic Games, but we do see their dynamic emotions pouring out at that moment that moment of realization that they have triumphed over the sweat, tears, pain and dirt that symbolize the mental, emotional and physical challenges they overcame. We have seen the feast that is victory. Now, let us plant and grow our own harvest.

It is the human will, determination and passion we have that sustain us on that road to success. We each create a detailed picture in our minds that leads us to accomplish our greatest achievements. We focus strongly on this picture. Soon it becomes more like a video, until our intense focus and effort transforms this distant video into reality.

This picture is vision. Olympic champions have vision, and so can we. We create our visions through our personal ideals and passion, and our visions spark our desire for achievement and personal fulfillment.

What is your personal vision? What motivates you? Let us challenge ourselves to achieve our dreams. Vision, goal setting and discipline will give us structure; passion, determination and motivation will give us the drive. We must understand the opportunities we have before us; we must see the possibilities that lie ahead.

Live with passion. Step up to challenges. Make your dreams reality.

Writer Dan Shabtai is a senior majoring in business administration. He can be reached at dtrojan@usc.edu or (213) 740-5665.

Copyright 2000 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 141, No. 22 (Thursday, September 28, 2000), beginning on page 4 and ending on page 6.