| Home ground for speed skating champ |
 Home ground for speed skating champ Cindy Klassen became the first Canadian to win 5 medals in one Olympics when she picked up a gold, two silvers and two bronze in Turin in 2006 – in speed skating. She represented Canada at Lacrosse in the 1994 Commonwealth Games. ‘I started Lacrosse to keep fit in the summer for Ice Hockey. I enjoyed it but they did not tell me beforehand that I would have to wear a skirt!’ She came close to making the Canadian Ice Hockey team for the 1998 Olympics. She recalls, ‘I was devastated when I was cut from the team. I just tried to believe it was God’s plan.’ She did make it to the Olympics in 2002 but in speed-skating. She recalls being so nervous that she could not eat. When she checked her email the night before her race, she read messages from friends saying they were praying for her. That gave her the confidence she needed and she won bronze in the 3000 metres. In 2006 her goal was ‘to do better than I had done in 2002’. With gold in the 1500, silver in the 1000 metres, and Team Pursuit plus bronze in the 3000 and 5000, she certainly achieved her goal. She has also won 3 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze medals in World Championships. Having grown up in a Christian family she says that faith in God has always been there. ‘God is part of all of my life – including skating. He has given me this talent and it is all about using it for his glory – in competition and training doing it for him. Jesus is everything to me. I cannot get through one day without him. I was so aware of his love for me and that he died on the cross for me. He is my shepherd and I am grateful to him for everything.’ Prayer is another key to her life: ‘Prayer is talking to God and listening to him. That is so important.’ In 2008 Cindy had to face a personal crisis when her sister Lisa was involved in a near fatal road accident in Winnipeg when she lost control of her car on a build-up of ice on a road bridge and plunged over the railing and into the Red River 15 metres below. She said of this period ‘Our whole family just felt like God was lifting us up. It’s just great to see how prayer works.’ Cindy is really looking forward to competing in the 2010 Olympics in her own country. ‘It will be incredible with the home crowd cheering me on.’ She realizes that there will be a pressure of expectations on her but she is not fazed. ‘I try to turn it round and see people’s expectations of me as support not pressure. I probably won’t read the papers in the run up to the Games so I won’t know what people are writing about me. I see the home crowd as a positive not a pressure.’ Win or lose, she is clear about who she is and adds – ‘It’s my relationship with Jesus that gives me true significance.’ Cindy Klassen Olympic record Gold 2006 Turin 1500 m Silver 2006 Turin Team pursuit Silver 2006 Turin 1000 m Bronze 2006 Turin 5000 m Bronze 2006 Turin 3000 m Bronze 2002 Salt Lake 3000 m By Stuart Weir |
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