On Wednesday Feb 17 – the day Christine Nesbitt won Gold – we met with her brother Doug Nesbitt and sister-in-law Adina Szalai. He grew up in London with Christine but they now live in Ottawa. They were on their way out to see Christine compete in the 1000 metre long track speed skating.
I asked if there were any special stories about her triumphs and tragedies, and Adina responded “she always triumphs, doesn’t she?” to Doug’s agreeing nod.
Doug shared his thoughts about when he knew that Christine might some day be a champion. He said when he was 10 and she was 6, they were living in Manitoba for a year. There was one rink in town and they would all go skating with friends from his hockey team. They played tag on the ice and though they should have been able to easily out run her, Christine would easily catch the boys - some of whom were 5 years older.
Doug said “I thought that was exceptional and was the first time I realized how athletic she was.” Doug said that she played hockey that year and was getting better and better and eventually switched to speed skating.
When asked how Christine prepares for races, Adina said, “she is very self motivated and is good at doing the things she needs to do to get ready” including the mental preparation: “she is very good at blocking out the white noise of life.” Adina also noted that Christine “is not too big on communicating a whole lot during when she is in competition. We are used to that at this point when she is in her Zone”. And we certainly did see that in her performance later in the day. Christine became Canada’s third Gold Medalist of the Games when she edged out a Dutch skater by just two one-hundredths of a second!
I asked if they are planning on any celebrations afterward and Adina said “Really, it’s a celebration to be here. We have been looking forward to this for a long time. She competed in the Olympics in Turin in 2006 and came out with a Silver Medal in the Team Pursuit and it was thrilling back then. Doug and myself were not able to go to Turin. We were in Ottawa watching all of the papers and television. Even back then we knew that in 4 years the Olympics were going to be on home soil and this was going to be a closer-to-home experience so it is a celebration to be here!”
Doug and Adina knew that we were interviewing them as Petro-Canada Family Correspondents and they gave us their feedback on the Petro-Canada Athlete Family program: Adina said it was “Fantastic, just amazing, just spectacular” and Doug added “Wow, the best.” They commented on how Petro-Canada did everything to take care of them and how appreciative they are of the program and the deluxe VIP treatment they received. Adina said “It is a lot to be a family member and to get mentally focused on that aspect of the trip. To have Petro-Canada take care of us and provide us with these great accommodations, food, tickets and transportation so we do not have to worry about anything has been a big help”
Adina added at the end of our time together that Christine is a “very inspirational girl” and they both added that “we love her a lot!” and they were glad they were here in Vancouver to be with her on what turned out to be a Golden Day for Canada.
Upon reflection of the day and Christine’s performance I want to echo Doug’s comment “Wow, the best”. Congratulations, Christine, on your GOLD! And thanks to Doug and Adina for being here with her and sharing a few minutes with us of their special day.
Photo Credit: CambridgeNow!
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