Four months before the winter games, she had been asked to visit a town in Italy that had very high altitude and extreme pressure. She was asked to bring her medals to show them to the young people for encouragement about their futures as potential Olympic athletes. While she was there, the crystal inside her only gold medal exploded into thousands of shards, a sign of bad luck. She was told it was due to the high altitude. Her bad luck continued two weeks prior to the Olympics. She was training and her skis were stolen from the truck that carried all the Italian skiers gear.
It takes a long time to have skis made for cross country and even longer to break them in so that they are ready for a race. For you and I, that would be a misfortune, but for Stefania, an Olympic athlete, her skis are an extension of her body. She had them custom made for her body design; she had trained in them and competed in them; she had won with those skis. To have them stolen just weeks before she was about to compete again was unconscionable and there was certainty that she could never win. She put it behind her, rose to the occasion and came to the U.S. Normally, a X-country racer competes against the clock, not in a pack with others skiers.
However, in Salt Lake City it was decided, for the first time in the history of the sport, that the skiers would start in a pack…a pack of 60. Stefania had never competed like this and had great concerns and fear. But again, she conquered her fear and was determined to give it her best. In the pack was her competitor from Russia, who had won the past 4 races against Belmondo. With 6 km left in the race, she was certain she could beat the Russian to the finish line. Belmondo took the lead with 2.5 km left, and then, tragedy struck again. Her pole got caught between the legs of a Russian skier and the pole broke. There is no possible way a X-country skier can win without their poles.
She fell far back and didn’t know what to do when she spied a French coach running towards her to give her his pole…he was screaming, “take it, take it!!!!” It was a man’s pole, a tall man’s pole. Stefania is only 5?2?. Yet again, defeat and fear loomed in front of her with intensity. She stumbled along as best as she could and eventually her coach heard what had happened and rushed to her with a pole that was suited to her size. He ran up beside her on the mountain, on the track and he screamed, “take it… you can do it, don’t give up.” The coach stated she looked desperate…her eyes were full of terror. She was 13 seconds behind the pack.
A skier wouldn’t let her pass as she was racing with all her strength to pull up and move beyond the pack…she was intent on catching the Russian, now the leader. She was sprinting to the finish,.5km left. It was she and the Russian, the Russian was ahead. She moved to pass her on the inside and it was an all-out brawl of passion between these two intense racers. With her last bit of adrenaline, pushing beyond herself, she won….she won…. She Won. She faced adversity, bad luck, misfortune, odds against her, age, and exhaustion. She reached beyond herself…beyond her total despair and fear. It was beautiful. That night she stood at the podium and accepted the gold medal.
When asked how she would like to be remembered, she said, “I would like to be remembered as a winner in Albertville and in Salt Lake City. No, I would like to be remembered as someone, win or lose, who always tried to do my best. That is how I want to be remembered, I always try to do my best.” I think today about the doubt that I have…the fear that sometimes seems overwhelming. I too, want to be remembered for always doing my best…so like Stefania, I will try today to push through the desperation, despair and fear. And I too will win my gold medal.
My name is Lori Redding and I am living my dream! In 2009 I started using a system called Sendoutcards. I told a few people about it and now…I wake up when I’m done sleeping and take time to myself when I want. Feel free to contact me at http://www.lorireddingsuccess.com or 978-836-6263 with questions or comments.
You must log in to post a comment.