Someone to look up to

My gym had a very famous athlete come by tonight. Her name is Bridget Sloan, and she was the 2009 world champion. That was when she was only 16 years old! She graduated this last spring from high school and after next year's Olympics she will be starting school for the University of Florida Gators. The last few years have been really tough for this amazing athlete but she is determined to train hard and give the 2012 Olympics a serious go.

It was great to give the athletes at Gym Centre the opportunity to meet such a great athlete. Talking with some others during the event, people were talking about how great it would have been to have someone like that come into their gym at a young age. Maybe this visit lights the fire in the heart of one of our young athletes.

It was really cool to see these young kids eye's light up when they saw this girl that really is a very down home type person. I have met a good amount of elite women over the years and most are very shy. I don't know if it's because they are in the gym too much and don't socialize enough or what. Bridget though, was a great speaker. When we offered her a microphone she said she would be fine without. Her speech seemed like she knew what she was going to say, but it wasn't like she had a set speech. She was also great when it came to answering questions from our kids as well. They were very clear and she did a great job of keeping all her answers very positive and let the kids know that hard work could help with any problems they might have.

There were lots of great gymnasts and other athletes that I looked up to over the years. Ryan Sandburg, second base of the Chicago Cubs was the first. Then there was Michael Jordan, Ned Overend, Hans Rey, John Rothlisberger, Blane Wilson, Ivan Ivankov, and even now there are still athletes that I look to for inspiration. I don't look to them like I used to when I was a kid, but in some cases I get just as giddy as I used to.

I hope this kids enjoyed the experience. Sometimes I don't know, they can look unimpressed but inside they are going crazy. As long as one kid got a big kick out of it, it was worth it.

Time for bed, I hope it is nice tomorrow, I would like to get on my bike for a while. Been lifting weights a lot and I miss being out on the road.

Bridget talking to the kids. They filled the entire 40x40 floor exercise area.