Every Olympic family supports their Olympians with all their hearts. They cheer from the stands at the top of their lungs and provide the love and support to propel their athletes onwards to victory.
Every family does this, provides the support of champions for Olympic champions. But some understand the experience a little more than others.
There really is no better way to describe the family of Canadian speed skaters Jamie and Jessica Gregg then by calling them products of the Gregg Olympic Family.
OLYMPIC LEGACY
Both Dan and I interviewed their mother Kathy, a two time Olympic
Speed Skater in both short and
long track speed skating. She competed in the 1976 Winter Olympics at
Innsbruck, Austria and the
1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, USA.
Their father Randy is also a
two time
former Olympian who also took part in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics as
well as the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics for Team Canada hockey. Randy also played with the
Edmonton Oilers in the NHL.
So it
may not be a surprise when, asking mother Kathy how Jamie and Jessica
picked up speed skating as an interest, she jokingly replied that, "They
didn't really have a choice!" Jamie, 23, and Jessica, 20, both followed in their
mother footsteps to the speed skating ovals and
eventually adopted the sport as their own.
And on top of the tremendous success of both Jamie and Jessica their younger sister Sarah, 19, is another emerging force on the speed skating circuit, and a face to watch for future Winter Olympics to come. There is one Gregg family member, Ryan, who decided to play baseball instead although he also got a chance to try on the skates when he was younger as well. Ryan apparently preferred the summer sports instead.
EARLY START
Jessica picked up speed skating early on at the age of 4, when older brother Jamie did the same at age 7. However Jamie actually preferred hockey and only made the transition over to competitive speed skating from hockey four years ago. And that is truly quite the testament to the skills possessed by these young skaters, that Jamie has reached such heights in such a short period of time.
Kathy is happy that her children enjoyed the sport their mother competed in over the years and both Kathy and Randy are completely in support of their decision. There is nothing but love and support for all the kids in every avenue they pursue.
And Kathy has also really enjoyed seeing her kids travel around from meet to meet, watching them hang out with new friends and teammates. Kathy remembers doing the same fondly when she was younger on the speed skating circuit and really enjoyed that part of the whole experience.
WORDS OF WISDOM?
With so much Olympic expertise in the family it would be easy to expect plenty of advice to come, but when asked if she gave any words of wisdom to her children before
they headed off to Vancouver Kathy laughed as she said, "well if they
aren't ready by now then it's too late!"
Kathy and Randy are looking forward to cheering from the stands this year.
In 1988 Kathy actually volunteered with Canada speed skating at the
Calgary Olympics in 1988, and she would have considered doing the same in
Vancouver. However once Jamie also qualified for The Games it was no longer
in question.
The feeling is still pretty surreal for both Jamie and Jessica however that will likely change in a hurry upon their arrival at the Opening Ceremonies.
Stay tuned for Part 2 with the Gregg Family later today ...
An impressive family! Way to go guys. We'll be cheering you on.
Posted by: Colin | February 15, 2010 at 08:50 AM