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Teaching Values- An Olympic Education Toolkit - International ...

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SECTION 3 SHARING THE VALUES THROUGH SPORT AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES<br />

THE LONG ROAD TO VICTORY:<br />

AN ATHLETE’S STORY<br />

IN ANCIENT TIMES, AS TODAY, TO BE AN OLYMPIC ATHLETE WAS A SUPREME HONOUR. ANCIENT OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS<br />

WERE LOOKED AFTER BY THEIR FELLOW TOWNSFOLK FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES. ATHLETES TODAY WHO WIN<br />

MEDALS ARE ALSO HONOURED AND CELEBRATED IN THEIR COUNTRIES. TODAY, NEARLY 100,000 OLYMPIANS (ATHLETES<br />

WHO HAVE COMPETED IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES) SPREAD THE SPIRIT OF OLYMPISM AROUND THE WORLD.<br />

BEFORE YOU READ –<br />

QUESTIONS TO ASK<br />

What qualities do you think people need to<br />

have to successfully achieve their goals?<br />

What happens when they fail?<br />

READING<br />

The Long Road to Victory: Dan<br />

Jansen 7<br />

Of all the <strong>Olympic</strong> stories that teach us<br />

about perseverance, very few are as<br />

memorable as that of Dan Jansen. Most<br />

speed-skating victories are decided by a<br />

margin of 1/100th of a second. This<br />

victory took over a decade.<br />

The world first met Jansen at the 1984<br />

Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, when the<br />

relatively unknown American placed an<br />

impressive 4th in the 500m race. In<br />

Calgary in 1988, he was favoured to win<br />

the 500m and 1,000m races. But fate had<br />

other plans. Jansen’s sister had been<br />

suffering from leukaemia and died just<br />

minutes before race time. In his final<br />

conversation with her, he promised to win<br />

in her honour. But instead Jansen fell. Not<br />

just once, but in both races. He left<br />

Calgary empty-handed. Four years later<br />

Jansen was again favoured to win, this<br />

time in Albertville. But after a disappointing<br />

performance, he again left without<br />

a medal.<br />

In 1994, Jansen prepared for his fourth<br />

<strong>Olympic</strong> Games, in Lillehammer, Norway.<br />

He knew it would be his last chance and<br />

hoped he could put his past behind him<br />

once and for all. But on his first race, to<br />

the horror of everyone watching, Jansen<br />

slipped yet again during the 500m and<br />

finished 8th. Only one race remained. The<br />

last of his career.<br />

Four days after that unfortunate fall, the<br />

starting gun sounded for the start of the<br />

1,000m. <strong>An</strong>d everything magically fell into<br />

Above Albertville<br />

1992: Dan Jansen<br />

(USA) was expected to<br />

win a gold medal in<br />

the men’s 500m speed<br />

skating. He eventually<br />

finished fourth.<br />

place. A decade of disappointment<br />

suddenly was erased as Jansen took first<br />

place and set a new world record. During<br />

the victory lap, he picked up his daughter<br />

and carried her around the ice.<br />

They had named her Jane, in honour of<br />

his late sister. The perfect ending to a<br />

story that has become an inspiration to<br />

athletes around the world.<br />

FOR DISCUSSION<br />

Explain why you think Dan Jansen<br />

persevered in his journey to win an<br />

<strong>Olympic</strong> medal.<br />

What aspects of the values of<br />

Olympism do his actions represent?<br />

7 Adapted from <strong>International</strong> <strong>Olympic</strong> Committee Web<br />

Site. “Celebrate Humanity 2002: Dan Jansen.” Online at<br />

http://www.olympic.org/uk/passion/humanity/jansen_uk.<br />

asp. Sourced 5 July, 2006. (Small wording changes<br />

facilitate understanding for non-native English-speaking<br />

readers.)<br />

64 TEACHING VALUES

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