Heather Moyse is two-time Olympic gold medalist in the sports of Bobsleigh. She is an exceptional achiever in the sports of track cyclist, union rugby, soccer & track and field. She is multiple award winner. She is in conversation with Namita Nayyar President Women Fitness.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
You have been playing different sports since your earlier youth. You reached the pinnacle of success on winning Gold at the two-woman event in the 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2014 Winter Olympics in the sports of Bobsleigh. What factors you consider were responsible that made you achieve that?
Ms. Heather Moyse:
I did not actually start training or lifting weights until I was twenty-seven years old, at which time I was faced with the challenge of competing at the 2006 Olympic Games in Torino. I believe that having grown up playing a number of different sports was a big contributing factor to my general athletic ability, enabling me to adapt to new physical challenges well. The typical qualities that it takes to be successful in life also apply, however, such as perspective, focus, commitment, perseverance, hard work… I also believe that I have been blessed with an amazing support system in my family, who wouldn’t have minded one way or another whether or not I pursued an Olympic goal, as long as I was happy, pursuing something with passion!
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
You have selected a sport where while competing in Bobsleigh, it being a team sport, requires a lot of cohesiveness and rhythm between the players to finally succeed, how do you achieve that?
Ms. Heather Moyse:
Connections between some people come easier than between others, but, ultimately, the timing comes from practice and really paying attention to your teammate – learning how they think, how they move. The more you know about the other person, the more you can figure out how and where you can contribute and add value to the team.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
You earned your Bachelor of Science in Honours Kinesiology from the University of Waterloo and a Master’s Degree in occupational therapy from University of Toronto. How has this educational background helped you excel in your sports career?
Ms. Heather Moyse:
I think education is an important part of development, in general. But those particular degrees were able to give me better understanding of how the body works, and occupational therapy, specifically, taught me about adapting activities to push past limitations. Having worked with people with disabilities, I have developed an ability to see situations from different perspectives, and consider this to be a mental strength of mine that has helped both me and my teammates (and others) through difficult times.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
You had exceptional career achievements in Rugby Union, Cycling, as a Track Athlete and in Soccer, apart from Bobsleigh. How you keep focused on different sports and excel in all of them you participate which has such varied requirement of sporting and physical endurance skills for each one of them?
Ms. Heather Moyse:
As I mentioned above, I believe that playing a number of sports growing up turned me into a well-rounded athlete. There are good sport-specific athletes (ie. good bobsledders or good rugby players) who aren’t necessarily good athletes in general. And there are very athletic people who never master the sport-specific skills in a particular sport in order to make it to the elite level in that sport (although they tend to adapt more quickly to learning new physical tasks). For me, I was fortunate to have a good base of athleticism, and the training definitely overlaps. The only difference is that I just have to put more focus on endurance while training for certain sports (ie. rugby), knowing that my strength acquired from training from bobsleigh, for example, would carry-over.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
How did you feel before and after winning Gold at 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Bobsleigh two-woman event?
Ms. Heather Moyse:
Before: I felt ready and excited. Immediately prior to stepping on the track I felt nervous. But I always feel nervous before a race – an indication to myself that I actually care about doing well.
During (between the two days of competition when we were losing): I felt reflective. Of all the work that we had put in to get to that point. Of all the rehabilitation I had done over the previous year to recover from hip surgery to get to that point. Of the fact that we cannot control what other teams do, but can only control ourselves – our own preparation, program, perspective…
After: I’m not sure if I can put that feeling into words! Overwhelmed with pride in having executed what we set out to accomplish! Overwhelmed with national pride! Overwhelming and surreal seem to be two good words to help sum it up!
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