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
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