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Two months -- that's all I've got
Updated: Saturday June 23, 2001 5:42 PM
Sue Merz, 29, was a key member of the first U.S. Olympic women's hockey team, which won a gold medal at the 1998 Games in Nagano. The Greenwich, Conn. native first joined the U.S. national team at age 18 and played hockey at the University of New Hampshire. Now the defenseman wants a second Olympic gold medal. Check out Merz's diary as she trains for Salt Lake City. June 20, 2001 Well, I'm happy to report that I survived testing camp. I feel like I held my own throughout the three days in Lake Placid, faring well considering it's the beginning of the off-season. Technically, I wasn't competing against anyone, it was a more a measure to gauge where I am individually. There isn't a certain criteria that everyone has to meet in order to be able to compete on the team. Instead it was just an individual measure from which I need to build on. But still I realize that I have a lot to do in the next two months in order to be prepared for the toughest tryout of my life. Olympic team tryouts. August 13th. Two months. That's all I've got.
I just returned from a very motivating weekend in Salt Lake City (Park City), where many of the winter Olympic athletes (hopefuls) got together for a sports conference called The Summit 2002. This was the brainchild of Norm Bellingham who was an Olympic gold medalist in canoe-kayak in 1988 for the U.S. He learned from the example of the Norwegian Olympic Association that by bringing athletes together annually to discuss the various aspects of the preparation for the Olympics, those athletes benefited favorably in terms of medal output and Olympic experience. So three years ago, Norm and a handful of other winter Olympians (Paul Wylie, Bonnie Blair, Jack O'Callahan, Cammi Granato, Dianne Roffe, Nicki Stone, Mike Conley) got together and created this "Summit 2002". And I feel like it's been a success. Through this series of Summits, I have met a number of other winter athletes who are experiencing a lot of the same challenges that I am in making it to the Olympic Games. Realizing these challenges and discussing ways to overcome them has brought many of us closer together. Now, thanks to these "Summits", if I'm fortunate enough to participate in the Games in Salt Lake, I will feel part of a bigger team than only my hockey team...I will feel a part of the whole U.S. Olympic team. And ultimately that's what it's all about. Now for the next few weeks things will fall more into a routine for me, which is a welcome thing. I will train for 2-3 hours in the mornings in the gym, working on conditioning, speed, agility and also strength. And in the afternoons, I plan on figuring out the rest of what life brings my way. Sometimes, I'd rather stay in the gym... -- Sue
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