: Going for Gold Producer: Christine Demsteader Broadcast::: April 7, 2004 Christine On your marks, get set, go Young Swedish athlete Johan Wissman is quick on his feet. He runs 200 metres in just over 20 seconds. The world record stands at 19.32 seconds. As for me, I ve got some catching up to do. What time was that? It was a new personal record, 40.7 (seconds). Hello and welcome to Close View with me Christine Demsteader. Do you dream of being a world champion, a record breaker or a gold medallist? To be a prize-winning sportsman or woman you need a mixture of personal, physical and psychological ingredients. But is there a secret recipe for sporting success? In this programme we ll be speaking to sportsmen and women to find out what it takes to make it big on the track, on the pitch and even on the fairway. Ambition, sacrifice, motivation and dedication. Through their words and experiences they share some of these qualities needed to rise to the top. Ambition - an eager or strong desire to achieve something. Twenty-one year old Johan Wissman hails from Helsingborg in southern Sweden. In 2004 he became the first Swedish sprinter in 40 years to bring home a medal in a senior competition. He took silver, he was point six (0.6) seconds away from taking gold in the World Indoor Athletics Championships. 1
At first I was a little bit disappointed that I had missed the gold medal, of course, because it was so near. Then after a time I kind of realised what I had done; I took a silver medal in a world championships and that was really big. So then I was really happy. But that s something that you re going to have to deal with throughout your career - it s part and parcel of being an athlete isn t it? Yeah, of course. You can t always achieve what you want. How important is success to you? It makes it easier to train hard and it makes it easier to motivate yourself to train hard. It s important but you can do it without it. If you have a vision that you can achieve something in the future, like five years from now, and you haven t really achieved it yet you can have that as a source of inspiration to look forward, if you believe in yourself. So the things I have achieved are mostly a bonus for me, I think, because I know what I can achieve in five years from now. Talking about believing in yourself, is it easy for you to say one day I m going to be the best in world or one day I m going to be number one? You have to have that kind of belief in yourself don t you? Yeah, yeah, or course. I know it s possible so that s what I believe. You ve mentioned this five years a couple of times. They often ask at job interviews where are you going to be in five years time? Where are YOU going to be in five years time? It s four or five years and perhaps I m going to be in the Olympic final in Peking and I m going to have a big chance of taking a medal there. Making sacrifices the act of losing or surrendering something. 2
Denise Reddy was born in New Jersey in the United States but moved from her homeland to pursue her sporting passion. For the last eight years she has played women s football, or soccer, for Malmö. To reach her goals she made a life-changing decision crossing the Atlantic to unknown territory and settling in the snowy wilderness of Sweden. Yeah, it was definitely a big move. My goals have always been to play in the United States national team, to play in the Olympics. And I decided that this was definitely a goal that I wanted to achieve and it s worth it. So I packed my stuff and I moved to a country where I didn t know anybody and I m glad I did it. You weren t able to play in the national team in your home country. How did you take that? Did you see it as some kind of a failure? No, not really. I knew what I was capable of and I knew there were things I needed to improve if I wanted to go to the next level. Of course I was disappointed that I didn t have that chance but I wasn t willing to give up at 22 (years old). Is there anything you would change about your career so far? Is there any thing you d do differently in a sort of if I knew then what I knew now scenario? I wish I had been at the level I am now a few years earlier. That s the only thing. My goals were always to play in the national team or get a shot and I ve never been invited to a camp and I ve never got to play in my country s colours. That s definitely a regret because I don t know if I m good enough or if I would have been good enough. But that s something I guess I have to live with. Motivation something that encourages and inspires action towards a desired goal. 3
Joseph: What s important for me is when I m getting old, I have to sit on my sofa and see, during 15 or 20 years, all those years I ve been in football, I want to see results. I want to win every day. When I get older I have to see a result, that s what I want to see. Meet Joseph Elanga, the Malmö midfielder from Cameroon has been capped for his country and has also played in the World Cup. There are millions of young people all over the world desperate to jump into his boots, those of a professional footballer. Joseph: Joseph: Joseph: My advice is not to give up because football is something amazing. They have to focus on what they want to do; it s important, it s good. I want them to become like Zidane, like all those stars, even like me. It would be great. Joseph, what motivates you? Wintertime! Wintertime! I like to play in the wintertime. When it s snowing, I don t see the ball, I don t see the opposing team, I run like an idiot and it s good. When I come back to the dressing room, I m freezing like I don t know what; it s good, it s amazing. Do you reckon Zidane could play in the snow? I don t think so. That s why he moved from Italy to Spain, because he doesn t like snow! Denise Reddy was less motivated by seasonal change. Rather, as a youngster she was encouraged by her father. He introduced her to many different sports in order to instil self belief, confidence and a will to win. My father always said sport was very important and actually I played baseball or softball, basketball and soccer as a youngster. My dad s philosophy was that it s very important to be an athlete, to play sport and be involved. He wanted me to be able to choose which sport I would play. So at a very early age, four or five, my father starting training with me, all different sports, so I would be able to pursue a career in athletics. Why was that important? 4
I don t know, I never really asked him but he definitely pushed me. And if it wasn t for him I probably wouldn t be able to play at the level I play today. Do you think that s more of an American mentality? Do you see a difference between Sweden and America when it comes to exposing and encouraging young people to take up sport as a career? Well, when I first came to Sweden, I noticed a big difference in the way they trained and in the way they took athletics. In the States it s taken so seriously. If you re part of a team it s a big responsibility to win or to succeed. In Sweden, when I first came, it wasn t at the level it was in the United States but it has definitely changed. It s becoming more and more acceptable to say we re good, we re going to win because people are not just training two or three days a week, it s a lifetime. Everything they do from the morning until they go to bed is about their sport. How they eat, how they sleep, how they train and how they think. So, it becomes a lifestyle. Dedication selfless devotion to a cause or purpose. My name is Fredrik and I m crazy about golf. When I grow up I want to be a golf professional. First of all I want to play on the Telia tour, here in Sweden, and then I want to play at the Challenge and European Tour and finally go to the PGA Tour in the States and challenge the big guys like Tiger and them. Christine Sixteen year old Fredrik Wallentin from Stockholm can usually be found practising his swing, putting and chipping or packing in two and a half rounds of golf in a day. Now we ve just arrived at the golf course where you play on a daily basis practically during the summer. 5
Yeah, my day starts when I m on my way to the golf course and I m just looking forward to being there and to play, it s amazing! How obsessed are you with your sport or how dedicated are you to it. You talk about golf like it s a love affair? For me it is; I think about golf all the time. Is that healthy for a 16 year old? Yeah, I think so because I love the game. But you also will be better in school because you can focus on school while you are there and then in your spare time you can play golf or do whatever you do. But talking of school, you have your academic work to do as well so how difficult is it to juggle school work with training at the same time? It s not so difficult, you just have to prioritise. But you train a lot; tell me how often you train. In the wintertime I train around 20 to 30 hours per week and that s including play at the course. But in the summertime I play 60 to 80 hours a week so that s a lot. What about failure? There are many young people out there who dream of being professional sportsmen and women. They train and practise but they re just not quite good enough. Golf is an extremely competitive sport, have you thought about failure? Have you thought what if I don t make it or what if I m not good enough? No I haven t because I think if you really want to be a golf professional you just have to believe and think about your goal and nothing else. 6
The secret recipe for sporting success? Mix ambition, a lot of sacrifice and a large pinch of motivation. Sprinkle generously with dedication, confidence and self belief and one day perhaps YOU could rise to the top. You have been listening to Close View, with me Christine Demsteader. This programme was produced with the help of sound engineer Gunnar Csiffary. Until next time, thanks for listening. 7
Words athlete - idrottsman recipe recept sacrifice uppoffring qualities bra egenskaper decision beslut failure misslyckande capable kapabel, duglig, duktig regret någonting man ångrar advice råd dressing room omklädningsrum instil ingjuta obsessed besatt competitive konkurrenskraftig Questions 1. What s the difference between personal, physical and psychological qualities? List five qualities a successful athlete needs in each of these three categories. 2. How important is success to you? Try to come up with a good definition of the word. 3. Read this story about Olympic swimmer Eric The Eel Moussambani - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics2000/swimming/931508.stm - is he a loser or a winner? Decide for yourself. What does failure mean to you? 4. In 2008, Johan Wissman is hoping to be in the starting line up at the Olympic 200m final in Peking. Where do you think you will be and what will you be doing in four years time? 5. Who is your favourite sportsman or women? What do you like and admire about them? 6. Create your own sport describe how it s played and make up the rules. Tips http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/ - BBC s Sport Academy http://www.athens2004.com/ - Olympics 2004 official homepage http://www.mff.se/ - Read about Malmö FF in English! 8