Saturday, April 21, 2012

Portrait Of An Athlete: Lindsey Vonn



Some of you may not believe me but I’m not always motivated. Sometimes I feel like going to happy hour instead of training. There are times when I question why I work so hard when there’s no health reason for keeping my body fat low or my anaerobic threshold peaking. The Psyche posts are for just these times, to help keep me from slacking.

Today’s Psyche is a teaser to the film In The Moment, a documentary about skier Lindsey Vonn. The entire show can be streamed on Netflix. The Vonn most of us see wins a lot of important races and socialized with celebrities at red carpet events. What we don’t see on Sports Center, E, or OMG! could not be more of a contrast.

This film may not interest a lot of people. It glamorizes nothing and, in fact, doesn’t make being a professional athlete (even one of the best that ever lived) look like a lot of fun. If you think that you work hard, sacrifice, and focus in life it will make you reassess that position.

It’s said that the best athletes are born and not made. And while it’s true that “you can’t put in what God’s left out” ask Sam Mussabini said young pupil Harold Abrams in Chariots of Fire (who would go on to win Olympic gold) no one is that unique. Sure, there are athletic measures you are born with but there are billions of people on earth. One born with unique gifts still has thousands of other similarly-talented individuals vying for one prize. The rest comes down to luck and how much you’re willing to sacrifice.

Vonn sacrifices. A lot. And while it's never going to be what trends on Twitter it is the reality of what it takes to be the best.

6 comments:

Josh said...

Watching it now. Awesome. First, she clearly is onto something with a hard-boiled egg challenge.

makes me want to train more. guess that's the point.

thanks for the recommendation.

J

Steve Edwards said...

I'm with you. Also to your point that no one is commenting I guess I understand. It's not a glamorous profile necessarily. Or maybe no one has Netflix. Either way, they're only hurting themselves by not watching it.

Steve Edwards said...

She also says "you can't will yourself to win", which goes against the horseshit TV announcers spew all the time. She might also cast doubt that you can exceed effort beyond 100% as well. How are we supposed to sell without hyperbole?

Josh said...

I just found it absolutely inspiring. Made me want to train harder and more often. And I'm not even training for anything specific beyond some long mountain bike races.

I guess, in the end, I'm actually jealous of her. She gets to train all day, everyday. What could be better than that?

here's another thought: does anyone else realize that Redbull sponsors some of the most bitchin' athletes in the world?

J

bob banks said...

I have a pretty minimal tolerance for broads getting all weepy on me, but this vid was good enough that I can look past the couple manufactured moments of melodrama. Lindsey f-ing rules and it made me wanna train like a madman and eat hard boiled eggs. In fact, I boiled up a dozen while I was watching.

Also, something tells me she doesn't drink a whole lot of Red Bull (ie. poison).

Anonymous said...

I don't know if this is a being in canada issue....or a being dumb issue... But can't access the video on Netflix!