Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez

Natalie du Toit - Qualifies for Beijing Olympics in Swimming despite having lost her leg in an accident 7 years ago.

By the time she was a teenager, South African swimming had its eye on Natalie du Toit. The versatile Cape Town swimmer lit up the pool, setting multiple national age group records in both medley events and dominating many of her races. At 16, she nearly qualified for the 2000 Sydney Olympics in three events. People sensed great things were in store for the strong, determined swimmer. In 2004, Athens could become her playground. Then in 2001, those plans abruptly changed. Done with morning workout, du Toit eased her motor scooter into Monday rush-hour traffic and headed to school.

Just down the street from her pool, a careless driver exiting a parking lot ran directly into her left leg. The scene was gruesome; the devastation was immediately obvious. “I kept saying, ‘I’ve lost my leg, I’ve lost my leg,’” remembers du Toit. Her teammates rushed to her. Traffic snarled. The scene: total, horrible chaos. A motorcycle policeman racing to the accident crashed headfirst into a truck and had to be airlifted to a hospital. It would have been merciful if du Toit had fainted. But this is a girl who confronts reality without blinking. She stayed awake. At that moment, Natalie du Toit was not in the least preoccupied with her swimming career. But that state of mind would prove to be very temporary.

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Playing the cards he was dealt!

Oscar Pistorius (born 22 November 1986) is a South African Paralympic runner. Known as the “Blade Runner” and “the fastest man on no legs”, Pistorius is the double amputee world record holder in the 100, 200 and 400 metres events and runs with the aid of Cheetah Flex-Foot carbon fibre transtibial artificial limbs by Ossur.

In 2007 Pistorius took part in his first international able-bodied competitions. However, his artificial lower legs, while enabling him to compete, generated claims that he has an unfair advantage over able-bodied runners. The same year, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) amended its competition rules to ban the use of “any technical device that incorporates springs, wheels or any other element that provides a user with an advantage over another athlete not using such a device”. It claimed that the amendment was not specifically aimed at Pistorius.

After monitoring his track performances and carrying out tests, scientists took the view that Pistorius enjoyed considerable advantages over athletes without prosthetic limbs. On the strength of these findings, on 14 January 2008 the IAAF ruled him ineligible for competitions conducted under its rules, including the 2008 Summer Olympics.

This decision was reversed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 16 May 2008, the Court ruling that the IAAF had not provided sufficient evidence to prove that Pistorius’s prostheses give him an advantage over able-bodied athletes. Although eligible to compete in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Pistorius still has to qualify for the South African team.

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
www.TheOlympicSpeaker.com

My old luge sled

February of this year was the 20th anniversary of the 1988 Calgary Olympics - my first Olympic Games. I wanted to know if my old 45-year-old body could still handle the sport of luge (90 MPH but more importantly, pulling up to 6 Gs on some of the curves) which is hell on your neck…

I went to Salt Lake City and took my first luge runs in 6 years. Incredibly, I felt better than ever. So I’ve decided to get myself back in shape and to go for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

This November I’ll be competing in the World Cup circuit to begin qualification for Vancouver 2010. The top 50 lugers in the world get to compete. I feel confident that I’ll be there on February 2010.

The average age of the athletes in the Olympics is 20-25 years. In Salt Lake 2002 I was 39 years old and almost every day people asked me if I was a coach.

I can’t imagine what they will be asking me in 2010 where I’ll be 47. Probably if I’m coach’s Dad!

I’m getting my old sled rebuilt by the American coaches and I’ll have to rebuild my body a bit too. But come November I’ll be competing with athletes that were not even born when I was competing in Calgary ‘88.

Maybe I should see if Geritol or AARP want to sponsor me!

Cool facts:

In Vancouver I’ll become the first Winter Olympian to compete in four Winter Olympics each in a different decade.

I’ll be the only athlete in any sport left from the Calgary ‘88 WInter Olympics. Last man standing!

Chase your dream no matter how old you are!

Olympic Motivational Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
www.TheOlympicSpeaker.com

Wilma Rudolph and her Gold Medals…

After getting double pneumonia and scarlet fever, the doctors said she’d never walk again. Wilma’s mother refused to believe the doctors.  

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Hershel Walker and I at the Olympics 

I got to meet Hershel Walker back in 1992 at the Albertville Winter Olympics. I was competing in the luge and Hershel was competing in the bobsled. Back then Hershel was playing football for the Washington Generals.

Hershel tells a story about the only two things you ever need to worry about in life…

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It’s Not Just About Sales Goals by Michelle Nichols  

Feeling stuck? Batteries low? Need a motivational shot in the arm? Try setting a Big Hairy Goal for yourself!

You probably have plenty of sales goals, but do you have a Big Hairy Goal? Every salesperson should. A BHG is a goal that is so far from where you are in your career now that you will have to push yourself incredibly hard to achieve it. You’ll know you’ve created a real BHG because it will inspire you and get your creative juices flowing. The downside is that you can’t reach it quickly. It will take months or years of struggling before you can declare to the world, “I did it!”

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Jonathan Edwards at Salt Lake City Olympic Opening Ceremonies

There are several definitions of character.  One definition is how you act when no one is looking at you. Another definition of character is: how do you treat people who could not possibly help you in any way?

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Alexander Cushing - 1913 - 2006, Founder of Squaw Valley Ski Resort

I just got back from Reno, Nevada where Zig Ziglar and I got to speak for a terrific audience of about 4000 people at a Get Motivated Seminar. By the way, for more information on the Get Motivated Seminar or to order tickets for a future event, call Get Motivated Seminars at 1-800-431-8306.

While in Reno, I got to spend some time with my good friend Michelle Nichols, Sales Columnist for Business Week. Michelle graciously drove me around Reno, and Lake Tahoe. Then she took me over to Squaw Valley, site of the 1960 Winter Olympics.

The story of how Squaw Valley was awarded the Winter Olympics shows the power of a single person with a huge dream and the willingness to take quick and massive action while ignoring nay-sayers.

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Ruben, Renato, and Marcelo (Ruben’s brother) at Salt Lake Opening Ceremonies

My brother Marcelo and I trained for the Salt Lake City Olympics for 5 years side by side with Renato Mizoguchi (the little guy in the middle), and we didn’t know a thing about his family background.

Renato competed in the luge for Brazil. He’s one of those happy-go-lucky guys that doesn’t say much, but somehow brightens a room with his big smile. He speaks very little English so even though we traveled together for years, we didn’t know much about him.

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Ildiko Strehli in her “Sled Full of Hope” 

A couple of days after finishing my competition at the Salt Lake City Olympics I was sitting in the Olympic Village Coffee Shop drinking my standard four shot expresso. There, I met an incredible lady. Ildiko Strehli of Hungary.

She was in her mid thirties and I was 39, so we both stood out like sore thumbs in amongst the other athletes (The average age for winter Olympians is early twenties, when you walk in the Olympic Village it feels like you’re in a college campus where everybody’s in great shape. I looked so much older than the other athletes that almost every day someone would ask me if I was a coach!).

I asked her what her story was. How she’d gotten to the Olympics. Her story blew me away!

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