"This doesn't happen."Humboldt's own two Olympians were clearly overwhelmed by the support they received from their hometown when they came home for Rush for Gold activities September 20-21. At the end of the two days of events, which included a one-man 24-hour run by Andy McAnally, barbecues, breakfasts, and a gala supper and silent auction, the Rush for Gold committee estimated that they had so far raised just under $55,000 to help these two athletes train for their next Olympic games. Lyndon Rush, who competes in the bobsleigh and is getting ready for his next Olympics in Russia in 2014, was clearly shocked when asked for his reaction to the figure announced near the end of the I Believe gala. "That doesn't happen," he said. "I know so many athletes and... this is just never heard of. It's unbelievable. It's really cool."The funds he receives will go to help paying down his debt, he noted. Brianne Theisen, a heptathlete who just competed in her first Games in London this year and plans to hit the 2016 games as well, was in tears when the dollar amount was announced. The tears, she told the Journal, were from just a buildup of emotion over the two days of events. "I just couldn't hold it in," she smiled through some more tears. "Everything everyone has done... it's not just the money. It's emotional...That's a lot of money."It's crazy... because what I can do with that money to help get better is endless. If I have a medal at the next Olympics, a lot of it will be due to this," she said. The funds, Theisen said, will help her do the things that could give her a leg up on the competition, like attend more training camps and more international events so she's used to competing against the same women she will see at the Olympics. "This is crucial for my training," she said. "I can't wait to tell people when I win a medal... about why."The Rush for Gold committee is a group of local residents who got together last year to help these two athletes financially and promote excellence in the community.The committee organized two days of events which had the two Olympians signing autographs for young and old, speaking to 1,100 students from the region at the Elgar Petersen Arena and at area schools about their journey to the Games, and again to about 240 adults at the I Believe Gala."I want you all to know I appreciate your time and support more than I can say," Theisen said in her address at the gala. "I had been told many times that being an Olympian is not something to take lightly," she continued. She had been told that competing at the Olympic games would change her whole outlook on life as an athlete. But she had never really believed it until she experienced it for herself.Growing up, Theisen described herself as a typical Humboldt girl, into sports and her friends. She had no idea that later in her life she would have the opportunity to complete at the Olympic Games, or that she would even want to. It was in high school that she got the idea, but she never set her sights too far ahead. She was asked once, by a kid at a track meet if she was going to go to the Olympics. "I don't know," Theisen responded. "It seems like a lot of work." Theisen sacrificed a lot of her time as a teenager to training with the track team in Saskatoon. She felt at the time, she said, like she was giving up a lot of her high school experience for nothing. Her parents were also making large sacrifices, including driving her into Saskatoon for practices and meets, and paying for her trips around the world to compete at junior and then senior track meets. In her senior high school years, Theisen started to look at her options and decided to go after a track and field scholarship. She was successful and attended the University of Oregon for five years.At university, she changed a lot, she said. Her priorities changed. Track became the biggest thing in her life, and she checked off goals like winning an NCAA championship and setting records. "I realized I was doing it because I loved it," she said of the heptathlon. "And also for others, my teammates, my family, my coach."When she found out she had made the Olympic team, she was happy and excited for herself, and that her family would get to experience it with her, as they had followed her entire career.No one, Theisen said, can mentally prepare for the Olympic Games. When she walked out onto the field for her first event, the 80m hurdles, she was in front of 80,000 screaming people. "It was the loudest thing I've ever heard," she said. The shock of it had nerves setting in."I'd never felt like that before," she noted, and she didn't know how to calm herself down. "I felt inexperienced, mentally unprepared," she said. Her first day of events was spent trying to figure out how to calm down. But on the second day, she was feeling more like herself, and really started to take in her Olympic experience, and to understand how the Olympics can change an athlete. The last event, the 800m, which is not Theisen's favourite event usually, was the high point of her Olympic experience. She won her heat, and afterwards, with her 11th place finish under her belt, did a victory lap with the other heptathletes. She tried to wave to every Canadian flag, she said. "I was surprised by how many there were... supporting me, madly waving," she said. It was then she realized she didn't want to win an Olympic medal for herself, but for all those who supported her. She understood then, she explained, that she was competing for her country, her province, her town. Her two days at home in Humboldt for these events, she said, have blown her away. "You didn't have to do this," she said. "I feel the support... of all of Humboldt. I hope in four years I can bring home a medal. If I do, it's thanks to all the stuff you guys have done for me."Theisen closed by showing a video of her last event, the 800m, which had the audience cheering for her and eventually standing up in ovation.Lyndon Rush spoke frankly about the funding for Canadian athletes during his turn at the podium. "We don't have the greatest funding for athletes (in Canada)," he said, revealing that they get about $1,500 a month to live on. But, he added, they do have great facilities and awesome coaching. "If I had to choose being well-funded (personally) or well-supported to win a medal, I would choose (the latter)," he told the crowd. "Canada does a good job of that... I don't mind sacrificing a few years of my life for a real shot at winning a medal."Rush was clearly moved at the effort that had been made by the community to support Theisen and himself."What a great event. I keep feeling like I don't deserve it," he told the crowd. "It's been a very profound two days for me... I've always been proud of being from Humboldt.. It was a great place to grow up. We owe you guys a lot for how you molded us," he said on behalf of himself and Theisen.In the meat of his speech, Rush outlined his Olympic experience at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, where he won a bronze medal in the four-man bobsleigh.He was recruited to the bobsledding world in 2004, after playing football for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. At the time, he explained, Bobsleigh Canada was looking for bigger athletes who could still run. Rush was one of the guys suggested by Huskies coach Brian Towriss.Recruited as a pusher, Rush switched to driving at his first training camp because of a pulled hamstring. Though he tipped his sled on his first full run down the track, it's obvious he fell in love with the sport right from the start.And he had a talent for it. As the herd of recruits was thinned, Rush was kept on. He kept moving up the ranks and eventually was competing in his first Olympic Games on home turf. Rush's team was Canada 1 at the Games - the first-ranked team in the country. "We were a real medal hopeful, especially in the two-man," he said. Unfortunately, due in part to some unusual nerves, Rush pushed harder than perhaps he should have in his second of four runs down the track in the two-man event. He ended up crashing."I thought this is a bad dream. Then the ice was burning my shoulder," he said. "I thought, no, you moron. You just crashed at the Olympics."He was devastated, and mad at himself, but his spiritual training kicked in and he started to think about things to be thankful for, in order to develop joy. Turning his thinking around, he was able to handle the crash "like any kid from the Prairies would," he said. "I admitted I made a mistake. It was my fault. No excuses. And I'm going to do better next time."His teammates were also devastated, he noted, but that crash actually brought them together. And in the four-man event a few days later, they were able to score a bronze medal.Just one-hundredth of a second behind the silver-medal winner, Rush said he was angry at first that they had missed that one. But at the medal ceremony, he decided to grow up and let it go. "I did my best. I wasn't good enough to win the gold medal. That's what the next four years were about - making my best enough to win a gold medal.... (and) things are looking good."Rush concluded with thanks to the Rush for Gold committee. "I want to get a Humboldt sticker on my sled or something," he said, just before his standing ovation. "I want to do something.""This is a 110 per cent community-based function," stressed Rush for Gold committee chair Michelle Bankowski at the close of the gala.Bankowski described Rush as "a humble, wonderful, charismatic young man, an Olympian, an athlete and a great role model... a wonderful husband and a father first."Theisen, Bankowski said, is "fiercely competitive, fiercely driven, such a talented individual, a role model and so much more... a warm, compassionate and caring woman."To Theisen, Bankowski said, "Brianne, your future is so bright. We are so very proud of you. You are Humboldt's sweetheart."To both Rush and Theisen, Bankowski said, "Humboldt is with you every step of the way in the future. We know you will make us all proud. You already do."The two athletes had shared their message with over 1,100 area students at the Elgar Petersen Arena the day before the gala. There, Theisen spoke about how as a child, she didn't know girls could be professional athletes. She revealed that the pursuit of perfection is something that drives her, and is what led her to start competing seriously in track and field, despite the sacrifices she had to make. It was in Grade 9 she was introduced to the heptathlon, she said, and though she had to be talked into it, she heard it might get her a chance to compete internationally. Once she tried it, she loved it."It was for me," she said.She also spoke about the back injury that set her back in her fourth year of school."That's been the hardest thing I've had to deal with," she admitted. She couldn't train, which made her moody and depressed. But with hard work, she got healthy again and in her last season, trained harder than she ever had in her life to make the Olympic team."I gave up my entire social life... I never went out... I wanted to stay on track with my goals."When she made the Olympic team, "it was the most excited I've ever been in my entire life," she said. Theisen painted a picture of the athlete's village in London for the students - a massive place where 15,000 people stayed and everything - from McDonald's food to hair styling - was free.She described competing at the Olympics, and how she felt like a small fish in a really, really big pond."It was a learning experience for me," she said. "I'll take it with me in four years to Rio."She left the students with words of encouragement for whatever they choose to do in life. "If you love something, no matter what it is, pursue it," she said. "Do what you love, no matter what it is. You will never regret it."Rush spent his youth in Humboldt motorcross racing, snowcross racing, waterskiing and wakeboarding, he told the kids. He played football in high school, and the Mohawk program helped him get to the Huskies, which opened the door to the bobsleigh.He gave the students his message of thankfulness, and retaining joy, and told them that while the highlight of his Olympics should have been his bronze medal win, it was more what he learned from it that he remembers."When tough things happen, when you think of something to be thankful for and have joy in your heart, you can move on and still achieve great things."Rush called speaking to the students "a humbling experience.""It's neat to think I'm a role model," he added. "I hope I can do a good job with it."The entire Rush for Gold campaign has been a surprise and an honour, he noted. "When I started doing this, I knew I was going to be broke. So anytime someone wants to help financially, it's a huge bonus."Rush for Gold has also given him a platform, he said, to give back to the community by speaking to the youth. Theisen was also happy to speak to the youth, to give back to Humboldt. "It was a cool feeling out there, to know I was one of those kids," she said. "I want to inspire even one person... to do great things, even if it's just being a good person."
