Where now after fulfilling my lifetime ambition
I love rowing for my life, and I loved winning an Olympic gold medal.
I have an enormous sense of relief after that race.
There was a lot to put to bed. With Athens, and then the recent success in Beijing, turning it all into gold meant a huge amount.
And now it feels like my body is drained and my head just wants to lie as low as it can.
Unfortunately, for my girlfriend and parents, that’s not what they wanted when they came out to see me.
It has been a great few days with all the support that has come flooding in, and it makes me so happy to know that I could make so many people proud.
But that chapter is over now, what remains is the next four years. London 2012 is now my target and when I finish enjoying this medal, the mission is on.
As for now, there are several parties, a couple of interviews, and a holiday waiting ... and a very nice medal that I will cherish for life.
Before long I will knuckle down and concentrate on the future.
The next four years isn’t about how I move on, but how we move on. I want to see more rowers on the Olympic stage come London.
With my medal, I am now in a real position to make a difference.
How can we pull our resources together and give our athletes the best chance in this sport?
There are so many people who never had the chance to find the potential within themselves, I want to turn this around and see that as many people are motivated enough to reach out and find something besides a 9 to 5 job.
Ideally this attitude would come from a wider society appealing far beyond rowing, but for now I will start at my club.
We have plans to construct pathways through the club, to give kids the opportunity to exploit any potential they have.
These lead to two paths, high performance or participation.
This way we’re not just flogging our rowers but getting the most from them, they either just enjoy the sport or they want to win.
I have an enormous sense of relief after that race.
There was a lot to put to bed. With Athens, and then the recent success in Beijing, turning it all into gold meant a huge amount.
And now it feels like my body is drained and my head just wants to lie as low as it can.
Unfortunately, for my girlfriend and parents, that’s not what they wanted when they came out to see me.
It has been a great few days with all the support that has come flooding in, and it makes me so happy to know that I could make so many people proud.
But that chapter is over now, what remains is the next four years. London 2012 is now my target and when I finish enjoying this medal, the mission is on.
As for now, there are several parties, a couple of interviews, and a holiday waiting ... and a very nice medal that I will cherish for life.
Before long I will knuckle down and concentrate on the future.
The next four years isn’t about how I move on, but how we move on. I want to see more rowers on the Olympic stage come London.
With my medal, I am now in a real position to make a difference.
How can we pull our resources together and give our athletes the best chance in this sport?
There are so many people who never had the chance to find the potential within themselves, I want to turn this around and see that as many people are motivated enough to reach out and find something besides a 9 to 5 job.
Ideally this attitude would come from a wider society appealing far beyond rowing, but for now I will start at my club.
We have plans to construct pathways through the club, to give kids the opportunity to exploit any potential they have.
These lead to two paths, high performance or participation.
This way we’re not just flogging our rowers but getting the most from them, they either just enjoy the sport or they want to win.
Labels: Andy Hodge, Beijing, London, Olympics
posted by Nick Westby at 2:53 AM
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