It's impressive for us to see athletes whose entire lives have been devoted to a particular sport. In the case of Thomas Grandi, he has been skiing since he was 3, and continues on the World Cup tour at 34. He has had 2 gold medals so far, numerous podiums and top-ten finishes. I was fortunate enough to work with him for a few seasons, and aside from admiring his motivation and work-ethic, he impressed upon me some more important things. Through his sport, he competes individually, but through his person he is concerned about all those around him. He strives to create a better training environment for his fellow (younger) athletes, but also to maintain a better natural environment for all of us. In the world of elite sports, all to often we see greed and materialism at it's worst (ferrari anyone?). Thomas has decided instead to donate half of all his World Cup winnings to the David Suzuki foundation. Additionally, he and his wife, Sara Renner, have decided to go carbon neutral.
The Canadian Ski Team has bee off to a great start this year (the best ever?) so some non-result related news seems to get lost in the shuffle. Thomas Grandi's decision to make a real difference, much more significant than a few hundreths of a second, is something we should all take notice of.
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