Olympic Skater Delivers Speed – With a Smile
The starter’s pistol blasts, and before the first echo reverberates around the rink, Catriona LeMay Doan bolts down the ice.
She powers around the oval in a graceful rythmn – her legs sweeping left, right, left, right; her body gliding along in peaceful motion. Her thighs burn but she bites down on the pain. It’s the Olympics, and Catriona’s hours, days and months, even year, of training culminate in this race.
Within seconds, it’s all over. Catriona streaks across the finish line, her arms wave in jubilation, her face radiates a smile. She’s just captured the gold medal in the women’s 500-metre speed skating race a the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
Life is a process for 27-year-old Olympian
“Sometimes, it will hit me. ‘Wow, I did that,’ she says. “When I meet people who have that reaction, I think, ‘It’s not a big deal, really.’ I’m the same person I was a year ago.” This down-home attitude keeps Catriona even-keeled. “Every medal I’ve won has been a step towards the gold,” says the 27-year-old Olympian. “I look at life as a process, and if I took the gold medal as the top, there’d be nowhere else to go.”
Skating is a full-time commitment
Catriona knows she can skate better. “I have better races ahead of me,” she says. That’s why she trains six days a week, several hours each day – cycling miles, skating laps, improving her technique, pushing her body and mind to the limit. “Skating is not a hobby for me but the focus of this stage of my life,” she adds. “It’s a full-time commitment.”
A commitment Catriona made when she was nine years old. Her sister noticed a poster at the local rink inviting kids to speed skating try-outs. Catriona signed up and a year later, she topped her age group at Canada’s national championships. After years of racing and training, she earned a spot at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway – only to find disappointment. During the 500-metre race, she caught a skate edge, hit the ice and crashed into a barrier. “It was a definite career low,” she admits, especially with thousands of fans watching on television. It took months before she found the courage to skate again.
But Catriona did – this time with a renewed perspective to concentrate on skating well and not worry about mistakes. “I’ve learned not to put so much pressure on myself for a certain result,” she says. “God has given me a peace about my life, and my sport ‘cause I know He’s always there. No matter how I do in my skating or any other part of my life, I’m never alone.”
Catriona’s faith keeps her grounded
Though Catriona’s at the top of her sport, her faith in God keeps her grounded, and drives her to skate the best she can. “I do the work and the training, but I depend on God for it all,” she says. “I’m constantly striving, always pursuing the goals I set out for myself. My husband Bart will tell you I’m the most stubborn person he knows!”
This blend of determination and contentment – in life and in God – shows in her bubbling smile, an almost giddy grin. “I love to smile, and it’s something I’ll always do,” she says, in all seriousness.
“I want people to look at me and say ‘She’s so happy. What’s so good?’ Especially since we live in a world where people are so worried and quick to be unhappy,” she adds. “I’d like to be remembered as a winning skater, and a woman who always smiled.”
What’s so good about Catriona’s life? “Being loved,” she says, without hesitation. “Being a Christian, I know God’s love personally. That brings joy to my life. And knowing Bart loves me, and that he loves God too – I can’t ask for more. No matter what happens in work, finances, in sport or in anything, if I’m loved, I’ll be fine.”
Take a look at your life. How would you describe it? Contented? Rushed? Exciting? Stressful? Moving forward? Holding back? For many of us it’s all of the above at times. There are things we dream of doing one day, there are things we wish we could forget. In the Bible, it says that Jesus came to make all things new. What would your life look like if you could start over with a clean slate?
Living with hope
If you are looking for peace, there is a way to balance your life. No one can be perfect, or have a perfect life. But every one of us has the opportunity to experience perfect grace through a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.
You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here’s a suggested prayer:
Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be.
Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? You can pray it right now, and Jesus Christ will come into your life, just as He promised.
Is this the life for you?
If you invited Christ into your life, thank God often that He is in your life, that He will never leave you and that you have eternal life. As you learn more about your relationship with God, and how much He loves you, you’ll experience life to the fullest.