Olympics Still Significant For Past Heroes

Redgrave still involved
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For some it will be the first time they will be wearing the colours of their country. For others it has become a four-yearly feature of their sporting life. Then for a small group of now-famous athletes it will be the first time in years that the Olympic Games will not be the sole focus of their life.

About this time four years ago the world’s top rowers were in the final stages of preparation. For some it would be their last.

The most celebrated is Great Britain’s Steven Redgrave who would go on to win his fifth Olympic gold at Sydney, then later be knighted Sir Steve by the Queen of England. After the 1996 Games in Atlanta, Sir Steve’s famous quote, “If anyone sees me near a boat, they can shoot me,” came back to haunt him when the then 34 year old started training again only months after Atlanta.

Sydney was Redgrave’s last. Now for the first time in 20 years, a week before the Olympics, Sir Steve is not in seclusion with his team mates. He is, however, not that far away. Joining the British training camp in Paphos, Cyprus Redgrave is still with the team, but this time he is there to give inspiration – verbal only – to the athletes.

Also in Athens, but this time in spectator guise, is this year’s Thomas Keller medal winner, Nico Rienks. Rienks wore the orange suit of the Netherlands at four Olympic Games. Sydney was his last. Rienks now runs his own company but up until 2000 rowing dominated his life and leading up to each Olympic Games he is well-known for barely taking a day off from the sport in his meticulous preparation. For the effort Rienks won two Olympic gold medals and a bronze.

Sydney, however, did not deliver the same rewards for Rienks. 

Training at a luxurious resort on Australia’s Gold Coast Rienks remembers. “We were not relaxed. Our rowing was not going as well as before,” says Rienks. “But it did not effect the relations in our team.”

Rienks’ eight finished eighth.

No thought of competing in 2004 ever registered in Rienks’ mind who had originally thought of stopping after 1996. Now his only thoughts of Olympic participation are as a coach.

Marnie McBean was in full preparation for Olympics number three in Sydney when injury thwarted her chances to compete. Three weeks out from the start two discs in McBean’s back ruptured.

“I was done,” says McBean who was forced withdraw at the last minute.

McBean is one of Canada’s most successful rowers and Olympians after winning two gold medals in 1992 and a further gold and bronze at Atlanta. McBean therefore prefers to look back to her 1996 Olympic experience. The team had chosen to continue training in Canada as Atlanta was close by. Being medal favourites for Canada they trained under a media blackout.

“Otherwise there would have been journalists on site and in our coach’s boat for every workout,” says McBean. “The last thing you can believe before the races is that you are special. All you should be thinking about is how hard it is going to be.”

Unlike Rienks and Redgrave, McBean says she regularly thinks about a comeback. “I miss racing,” says McBean. “But,” she adds, “to come back to the day to day, week to week of it, I am not convinced I am hungry enough to chase it.” So instead McBean is in Athens as a consultant with a number of official functions to attend.

Three-time Olympian and Atlanta gold medalist Xeno Mueller of Switzerland describes the lead up to Sydney as great. “I am just floored at how much fun it was,” says Mueller. “I was relaxed and things were very well organized from within the team.” Mueller went on to win silver in the single. After taking a break Mueller attempted a comeback in 2002 and then again as a United States citizen in 2004. Neither comeback worked out.

“Once I truly pulled the trigger on my fourth Olympics I was relieved,” says Mueller who made it as far as the start line of the United States Olympic trials before deciding not to continue.

Denmark’s rowing legend Victor Feddersen saw two Olympic Games, winning gold at Atlanta and bronze in Sydney. As stroke of his country’s lightweight four he became a household name and his involvement in the sport continues as he heads for Athens as a spectator and candidate for the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission.

Four years ago Feddersen was in a very different position. The Danes had been training in Australia for a month before the Olympics and getting used to a change of one man to their line up that had been on a winning streak since Atlanta.

“We wanted to keep the winning mindset that made us the favourites,” says Feddersen. “Medals are not only won on race day – they are won every day during practice and preparation.”

Feddersen had no intention of continuing after Sydney. “I think it’s important to plan your retirement.” Feddersen had already made the decision that Sydney would be his final race two years prior to the Games. “By doing that I had a non-stressful preparation for the rest of my rowing career,” says Feddersen. “I didn’t have to worry about what I was going to do after Sydney.”

The Olympic Games remain a big part of these champions’ lives and their words of advice to first-time Olympians echo each other – treat the Olympics like any other regatta. “The Olympic regatta is just rowing with more people watching,” says McBean. “The bottom line is it is just rowing.”

“Do it as simple as possible,” says Feddersen. ?It’s not any different from other races. The only change is that your competitors have got new racing suits which make them look like professionals.”

Feddersen also believes it is important to take time to take in the experience. “You know the rowers, but wait until you get to know the gymnasts, wrestlers, basketball players? Don’t worry about what will happen after the Games.”