to make them strong. Once they move
well and they are strong then we can
help them to achieve their specific
goals more easily.
ML: If you could only choose three
pieces of equipment to use forever
what would they be?
SL: That’s an easy one. Dumbbells,
Barbells and a Bench. There’s nothing
we couldn’t achieve with that set up.
ML: You competed at three separate
Winter Olympics during your
incredible career, but what was the
most memorable moment for you??
SL: Without a shadow of a doubt
that would be my first race at my first
Olympics.
My psychologist would be my
chapperone and would basically
come to the heat box with me and
stand there in case I needed anything.
Before we left he asked me what I
could need him for and what could
he have on him in case anything went
wrong. I told him to put some laces
in his pocket, because the laces get
pulled really tight and if one of those
break it’s a big problem, a spanner in
case my blades need tightening up
and maybe some water...but basically
just be there in case I need to cry or
something haha.
To set the scene further, my brother
Matt was a non-funded skater so was
fairly poor at the time but had spent
his last pennies to travel to Salt Lake
City to watch me. The night before the
race he had been offered $1500 for
his ticket and turned it down. I told
him he was stupid because it was only
a qualifying heat, so if I qualified he
could have watched me the following
day and had the money in his pocket.
There are two heat boxes in the
arena, you put your skates on in the
first one, then move onto the second
before taking to the ice. Everything is
so strict, you’re not allowed through
any gate without accreditation and the
timings are really strict too.
When you are at the Olympics
you also do everything that little bit
better and more perfectly because it’s
the most important thing that’s ever
happened in your life. So I was putting
my skate on, pulling them tight and
the lace snapped...something that’s
never happened before.
I looked up at my psychologist
and his face just dropped, probably
because he didn’t have a spare on him!
He raced off to get a lace and came
back just as we were being moved
into the next heat box. So I’m sitting
there with one skate on while everyone
else is ready and now we are just one
45-second race away from being called
on to the ice and if I wasn’t ready
I couldn’t compete.
He found a lace, threw it over the
fence and I was threading the lace
through all 20 holes at 100mph.
I was desperately trying to block all
the noise and the shouts from the
psychologist over the fence and was
just praying I made it onto the ice
in time.
I had spent two hours visualising the
race beforehand, going through the
imagery and now I was in danger of
not even making it.
I got onto the ice with seconds to
spare, my lace wasn’t even done up
properly and I didn’t even have my
helmet on so could have been sent off
for that - I got to the line and I was
shaking, I was absolutely petrified.
I looked around the rink and there
T H E IC E M A I DE N
were 30,000 people staring at me,
I couldn’t think straight and couldn’t
even remember my race plan. I felt like
I was having an outer body experience,
I felt lonely and just thought to myself
‘I am f **ked’.
As we went to the start-line the
arena fell silent and you could hear a
pin drop. Then from up in the rafters
I heard a voice as clear as day. It
was my brother, who could be heard
throughout the whole arena as he
shouted “DR PEPPER” at the top of
his voice.
I instantly knew it was him and
that was our code that helped me to
overcome my adversity to taking risks.
My coaches and psychologist would
say ‘just Dr Pepper it’ when trying to
get me take a risk, meaning ‘what’s the
worst that can happen?’.
It may sound cheesy but I was
instantly relaxed and knew I wasn’t
alone. I’ll never forget that feeling and
it brings a lump in my throat even
talking about it now...
______
Sarah Lindsay will be commentating
on the speed skating events for the
BBC during the 2018 Winter Olympics
which take place in PyeongC