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Helping hand Former Olympians mentor Salt Lake athletes at summit
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) -- With five gold medals, Bonnie Blair knows how to win at the Winter Olympics. She also knows how to handle the really important stuff, like doing laundry and managing ticket requests. The speedskater who is America's most decorated woman Olympian joined other retired athletes this week to offer insights to dozens of U.S. athletes training for the Salt Lake Winter Games. The U.S. Olympic Committee's four-day athlete summit, which concluded Sunday, also gave athletes a chance to bond. "I wish I would have had something like this when I was preparing for the Olympics," Blair said. "It would have been so much fun to get to know the other athletes before the games." The USOC has projected 20 American medals next February and the summit is a step toward that goal. Beside hearing from mentors, athletes broke into groups and solved problems. In one challenge, participants held corners of a handkerchief to support and carry a filled water cup. In another, each wrote a fear on a balloon and, while blindfolded, relied on teammates' commands to hunt and pop the balloon. They also hiked together, worked out, swapped stories and made friends. "The energy you draw from other people will be a huge advantage at the Olympics, even if it's only from knowing someone at the cafeteria," said luger Brian Martin, a bronze medalist at the 1998 Nagano Games. The USOC hopes to build teamwork through the summit. Women's hockey player Cammi Granato recalled being surprised at the size of the American team during Opening Ceremonies in Nagano. "It was great to see everyone wearing the same thing," she said. "I didn't realize how many people we had. This time, I'll know so many athletes going to the games and we're all united." Blair and others gave motivational speeches but also fielded questions and offered bits of wisdom. She recommends letting family and friends handle their own tickets and logistics. "I might have had 60 people in Lillehammer, but I had nothing to do with tickets, transportation or housing," she said. "I told them, 'I'd love to have you there but I'm going for my thing.' Families should understand it's business." Some Salt Lake athletes might need to decide whether to stay at home or in the Olympic village. A familiar bed helps, but Blair warned of potential distractions like phone calls and even cooking. As for the laundry, Blair said everyone's on their own. "I always stayed in the village because I felt it was a refuge," she said. "The most difficult part was always, 'How am I going to do my laundry?' There's a lot of things to think about." Participants learned about winter sports from the experts. Each athlete brought a personal videotape from competition, then shared it with others and explained the details. "Everybody got a better understanding of each other's sports," Blair said. "Now they all know what the bobsled guys do in the start house, or that there are different start positions for men's luge and women's luge." Bobsled pilot Jean Racine couldn't forget a talk by Jack O'Callahan, who played on the "Miracle on Ice" hockey team that shocked the Soviet Union at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics and went on to win the gold medal. Never mind that Racine was 18 months old back then. "I feel like I need to go out and train harder than a did a few days ago," she said. "He really motivated me. It was so amazing." Figure skater Timothy Goebel left the summit feeling like part of a team, even though he competes in an individual sport. "This will make the Olympics much more enjoyable," he said. "I can go to people's events and have a personal connection with them, instead of being just another face in the crowd."
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