Hitting the Road

The beautiful Olympic flame had not yet been extinguished before the spark of an idea began to ignite the flames of my imagination.  Such was the success of the games and the magnificence of the feats of athletic prowess on display, that I, like many millions of others across the globe, had been glued to the television, hungrily devouring every second of tae kwon do, archery, trap shooting and triathlon that I could.  “Inspire a Generation” was the theme of the games:  it just didn't specify which one. 

The sense of admiration I felt for all those taking part, but especially those glorious Great British gold medal winners, was almost overwhelming at times.  Admiration, pride, joy – these were emotions one would expect to feel during an event of such magnitude but what I didn’t expect was the almost irrational sense of jealousy and loss I felt.  I want what they had!  The adulation, the cheers, the experience of hearing thousands of delirious spectators cheering my name, cheer every move I make and jump and scream for joy, hugging anyone within grabbing distance at my golden, dramatic moment of victory!

I also, perversely, craved the tears of despair which marked the end of a failed journey to the pinnacle of sporting achievement.  Whether cruelly pipped at the post or dealt a hammering by the latest teenaged upstart, I felt their tears as though they were my own, as though they belonged to me and that the fallen athlete was merely a conduit of my grief to a global audience. 

Sadly, at the age of 33, with no discernible talent and zero training, practice or tuition in anything at all for the best part of two decades, I feared I may have left it a little late to represent my country in the greatest show on earth.  Then however, I was sent an email by a friend of mine who was so inspired by the feats of 36 year old Katherine Grainger on the waters of Eton Dorney, that he felt moved to write the following inspirational quote:

“Never give up, never settle for second best, never believe the doubters who say you are just not quite good enough, never allow yourself to think that your chance has passed you by. If you truly believe you are capable of reaching your goals, no matter how high they may be or how hard the task ahead may become, if you truly think that your best is yet to come and that you have what it takes to reach your glory... then go for it! Don't look back, don't doubt yourself for even one second. Stay true to your task and to your goals and one day, yes one day, your dreams will become a reality”

If, I argued to myself, she could do it, why couldn’t I?  Well, a rational person might well point to her countless years of training, her three previous Olympic silver medals, numerous world championship victories, strength, talent, commitment and dedication among many, many other things.  But what use is rationale if it quells one’s impossible dreams and foolish aspirations?  Would Kath Grainger give up?  No she would not. 

Quite undeterred by the various and numerous drawbacks, I decided to plan my Olympic journey to Rio 2016.  First thing to decide upon of course is a sport.  Now, despite Grainger’s remarkable achievement, I would be 37 – one year older than she is now – in 2016.  On that basis I decided, showing a surprising degree of reason and sense, that gymnastics, weightlifting and sprinting were just a few of the great many disciplines which I may have left too late.  However there were still a few sports which I felt, with a healthy dose of denial, wishful thinking and supreme arrogance, were within my grasp.  But so many choices . . . what’s a girl to do?  Well, try them all, of course.

Over the next year, I shall be attempting to wow the expert instructors whose unfortunate task it will be to teach me an Olympic discipline, with my hitherto undiscovered talent.  I will be asking them to rate my chances of Olympic glory out of 10 and to offer their opinion on my efforts.  I shall also be attempting to “Inspire a Generation” myself, by bringing what I hope will be an interesting insight into some of the lesser known Olympic disciplines so that, even if for some inexplicable reason I don’t make it to Rio myself, I might just inspire someone, somewhere, to take up a sport and perhaps carry the flag of the nation and the hopes and dreams of one aging blogger into an Olympic stadium. 

My first, tentative step on the road to Rio will take place on Tuesday 28^th August when I will be taking to the waters of Hastings, East Sussex, aboard a kayak and in the helpful and instructive hands of Cliff Meaden, MD of Epic Life (http://www.epiclife.co.uk/)  and  qualified Level 3 British Canoe Union (BCU) coach.  I do hope you’ll drop by next week to see how I got along and to find out what I’ll be attempting in September.  For now though, pip pip . . .