While I wouldn’t call my family anti-athletic, sports were never a focus of interest.  My mother would rather engage in stirring political repartee (cigarette and drink in hand), and my father was mostly busy with work.  Not that we didn’t have the odd dance or tennis lesson, or play with other kids sledding or skating, but at best sports were a minor part of what really mattered in life.

At best sports were a minor part of what really mattered in life.

Of course we kids were girls, so serious sports would have been an anomaly;  pretty much all we had were the required gym classes.  Despite one apical ninth grade field day when I won the girls high jump and long jump, I was hopeless at tumbling, crashing into the poor fellow who was supposed to the base over which I would flip ha ha.  Cheerleading tryouts were a bust.  It is a bit surprising that I managed to sprinkle the activities I did throughout the years—a bit of swimming, jogging, and skiing–and even now heading out with the “Slow Farts” local hiking group. But Olympic dreams? Not even a remote flicker, forever dormant along with a host of other never-gonna-happen achievements.

And yet, I have become Olympic hopeful adjacent.  Sally’s cousin married an ex-ski racer, and their daughter was on skis almost before she could walk, zipping by and going off-piste while we adults lumbered down the hill.  She grew up to become a very serious and successful ski racer, associated with the US Ski Team for a time, competing at the World Cup level and claiming North American championship titles in slalom.  Following her journey and showing up to cheer her on has made me appreciate the challenges of the very demanding sports world.

It is hard to overestimate the commitment needed to compete at that level.  The training is relentless, and demands lots of time, resilience, money, and of course physical effort.  You can’t do it alone—you need to have a supportive community of coaches, trainers, sponsors, family and friends.  Physical talent by itself is not enough.  You will have setbacks and failures and have to learn how to stay positive and go forward.  You need the drive and resilience and mental balance to sustain the competition.  An athletic career can be short, if completely engrossing at the time, so you also need a Plan B.

I have developed a true awe of the young athletes who do pursue the Olympic dream. There is an underside of sports politics to navigate, lots of disappointment and many reasons to be discouraged.  Very few will ever compete in the Olympics, let alone win a medal, but it is a stubbornly abiding aspiration. Maybe Italy in 2026 will be the year for Lila.  If it is, I will find a way to be there.