Courage, Passion, and Determination

What drives you? What is courage to you? Where do you turn for inspiration? How do you pass such to your kids, your friends, and even your business associates - as a leader?

The Olympics can be extremely inspiring. Understanding some of the stories behind the "news" brings tremendous insight into human nature.

As many of you know, for Elke and I our passion is skiing. Hence, we tend to follow the World Cup closely and the stories this year have been of great interest. If you're not familiar with Mikaela Shiffrin, she lost her dad a couple years ago in a home accident. She has yet to fully recover as he was a solid grounding for her incredible career. Mikaela is recognize as one of the greatest female skiers of all time - eclipsing even the untouchable Lindsey Vaughn. If you've followed the Olympics this winter at all, then you know Mikaela failed to complete her two strongest events - Giant Slalom and Slalom - For those following it was an obvious mental issue; the media pressure, self-induced pressure, the disruption in her emotional grounding, etc... But, then, she decided to compete in an event that she has done only now twice in several years - 5 runs total up to it. Why? Only she can answer but it took guts in the most dangerous of all Alpine events as when a wipeout occurs, it's usually injury sustaining. In Slalom your top speed is maybe 30 mph; in downhill, they reach speeds of 80 mph! There is no margin for error. Gutsy move and Mikaela did it!

Now, let's shift gears from America to Italy. Sofia Goggia, on top of the world this season cleaning up the competition with every race in the downhill - her specialty. In December, we watched the race from Cortina where Goggia was two gates away from the finish line and well in front of the pack. And then, came a tragic, gut wrenching wipeout. To see it you'd know she was done for the season, maybe even an end to her career. And this is where the story gets REAL.

With massive ligament and tendon damage amongst other issues in her left knee Goggia was driven - driven to be there for the Gold in the Olympics less than two months later. Her DRIVE was beyond measure and she was rewarded to stand at the starting gate ready to compete. Goggia turned in the fastest time up to that point and looked to be the winner (in fact, at that point it was Italy, 1, 2 ,and 3). How she was able to make it down the run, much less as the leader is BEYOND COMPREHENSION. Sutter would follow closely after and her run resulted in Gold leaving Goggia with the Silver. And you could see the disappointment on Goggia. It was clear. She worked beyond human constraints to accomplish what no other person would be willing to do. That's hunger. That's determination. That's a winner. One misstep in that or her practice runs and Goggia could have been crippled for life. Goggia's limping on and off the Olympic podium was a capsule into her fortitude, drive, guts, and determination to compete for the Gold Medal.

What drives a person to go beyond what is considered "normal?" Of course this is not a one of a kind story - there are many within and outside of athletics where people push themselves way beyond the acceptable limits of human behavior.

But this story really grabbed me because it is relatable to many other areas in life. People all the time will tell you what you can't do. They actually seem to enjoy stealing your dream away from you. Don't let them! You find that passion within you to accomplish what they never could.

I mentioned it earlier and will say it again - pure guts. Goggia defined the word courage yesterday once again. And what beautiful words from Mikaela below; pure grace for her friend and for the sport.

Sofia Goggia and Mikaela Shiffrin: two very gusty and talented women

“It feels a little bit impossible that she’s here, after that crash...it’s a significant injury, and it feels a little bit impossible that she got here, and that she got everything together to be able to race in this downhill. And...she has a silver medal. I mean, it’s UNBELIEVABLE. I hope that everybody shows her all of the support that she deserves because it’s...a medal that was very, very, very hard-fought. She 🆆🅽 the silver, and it’s really impressive. I know she’s been dealing with a lot of pressure as well, and this whole season she’s just been shining through with it. It’s just incredible that she was able to come today and perform with it.”

~Mikaela Shiffrin, on Sofia Goggia’s impressive silver medal downhill performance at Beijing 2022