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Their spirit transcends athletics. True, some excel in the heated
battle of the rink or ring, or seek perfection in the gentle rhythms of
the links. But the same drive imbues the business women struggling to make
their mark in male-dominated fields, actors finding stardom despite the
odds, politicians combating the forces of business as usual. Never mind
whether they win or lose: for the true competitor, the reward is in the
game itself.
Jayson Dénommée
FIGURE SKATER
He is going into the most pressure-packed
year of his athletic life, armed with raw talent and a self-deprecating
sense of humor. Take, for example, his rationale for ruling out coaching
as a future career choice. "I used to think I might coach," says
the 20-year-old from Asbestos, Que. "But if I had many students like
me, I wouldn't last long." Dénommée, who is studying
human sciences in Montreal, is a late bloomer by skating standards, and
he currently ranks below Elvis Stojko and Jeff Langdon in Canada. But insiders
say Dénommée possesses a rare blend of athleticism and musicality,
and he stands a good chance to qualify for Canada's Olympic team bound for
Nagano, Japan, in February. To do so, he needs good results at domestic
and international competitions next fall--and, to help cope with the pressure,
he is studying karate and kung fu. "I have to learn to be comfortable,"
he says. "I do the jumps in practice, but sometimes in competition
I get too stressed and over-rotate." That is not always a bad thing.
"At one competition, I nearly did the first quadruple axel ever,"
he says. "But I was only trying for a triple." |