A New American Olympic Hero

OK, I’ll admit it. I’m a cynical curmudgeon. Especially about sports. The big contracts, celebrity status, wild antics, and arrogant attitudes of many of our most talented professional athletes make it hard to think of them as heroes or as role models for our children. The NFL’s Terrell “I’ll bite the hand that throws passes to me” Owens, the NBA’s Ron “Forget the game, I’ll fight your fans” Artest, and, the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes Assistant Coach and Chief Gambling Officer Rick Tocchet are recent examples of this behavior. Even our beloved Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward held out from the 2005 training camp, even though he was already under contract with the Steelers for $1.66 million.

But now, the 2006 Winter Olympics brings us a story that has thawed my cold cold heart. February 13 saw US Olympian Joey Cheek win the gold medal in the 500 Meter Speedskating event. Cheek skated 2 nearly flawless races and beat the defending Olympic champion in the event, Casey FitzRandolph.

But as wonderful as Cheek’s victory was, it paled in comparison with what came after. At the post-race news conference Cheek announced that he would be donating the $25,000 gold medal bonus from the U.S. Olympic Committee to a humanitarian organization, Right to Play, an athlete-driven international humanitarian organization that uses sport and play as a tool for the development of children and youth in the most disadvantaged areas of the world.

Right to Play is also the favorite cause of Norwegian speedskating superstar Johann Olav Koss, whose performance in the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics inspired Cheek to switch from inline skating to speedskating. Cheek had this to say about Koss: “The things that he has done for other people has been an absolute inspiration for me. Now I have an opportunity to do something similar. It’s my hope that I can assist some people and maybe walk in his large shoes.”

At the press conference, Cheek also made the following statements:

• “I always felt like if I ever did something big like this I wanted to be prepared to give something back.”
• “I can either take the time and just gush about how wonderful I feel or use it for something productive.”
• “What I do is great fun. I’ve seen the entire world and I’ve met amazing friends. But it’s honestly a pretty ridiculous thing. I mean I skate around on ice in tights, right?”

Saturday, Joey Cheek will be competing in the 1,000 meters, a race that also features American world record holder Shani Davis. Anything Cheek wins from that race is going to Right to Play, too. I know who I’ll be rooting for.