Lyle Nelson
is living proof that the seemingly straight and narrow pathways of life are
often transformed into unpredictable, winding roads.
Ever since
he began displaying outstanding competitive skiing skills at age 5, it was a
safe bet that Nelson would become an Olympic skier. After all, each of the 10 McCall, Idaho
natives who had previously qualified for the Games had done so in that sport.
“I had so
many role models, encouragement and support that my personal belief in making
it as an Olympic skier was high,” Nelson said.
“But after graduating from West Point (in 1971 with a degree in
engineering sciences), I was assigned to the military biathlon unit instead of
infantry. I had to learn to shoot over
several years. So, it was like I
begrudgingly became a biathlete (the biathlon combines cross country skiing and
shooting) because I was always a skier.”
But Nelson
not only broke the pattern of his hometown, he also became a four-time Olympian
in the process. Nelson accomplished the
feat with what he refers to as “dedication to excellence.”
“My first
approach is, ‘Whatever everyone else does, do 10 per cent more,’” said the
39-year-old Essex Junction, VT resident.
“For two straight years—during my junior and senior years in college—I
lifted weights from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. every night, and almost always got up at
6 a.m. It was my strategy for success,
and it worked. It got me into the door
and onto the Olympic team.”
But that
was just a small measure of Nelson’s overall workout. He supported himself in the mid-1970s through
a variety of jobs which the average person would consider beneath him. Nelson knew exactly what he was doing.
“I used to
only take jobs that looked incredibly hard,” Nelson said. “It had to require some type of digging,
heavy pushing or pulling. It’s like I
was taking a job and got paid to train all day.
I’d tell them that I’d work harder than they could believe, four hours a
day. Me and this Norwegian skier had a
logging job in California that paid us $200 a week. The harder we worked, the more he paid us.”
It
obviously paid dividends. Nelson’s leg
of the four-person, 30-kilometer relay was the fifth best (total time of run
plus an additional 30-second penalty for each of the 10 targets missed) among
68 international participants at the 1976 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria.
After
another good showing in the 1980 Lake Placid games, Nelson further displayed
his athletic abilities by winning NBC television’s 1984 version of “Survival of
the Fittest,” which relied on outstanding mountainside skills. But around then, Nelson learned that sheer
athletic prowess was not enough to ensure an Olympic biathlon medal.
“By the
1984 games (in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), I realized that the lack of greater
mental skills kept me from winning the gold medal,” Nelson said. “That’s what the shooting segment
requires—100 per cent mental skills. But
that’s what I needed to know in the ‘70s when I was more athletic. I was a real hard-trained, hard-pushing
athlete who always thought that thinking got in the way of athletics.
“What I
needed to learn was self-confidence and what was needed to be properly
motivated—to change bad attitudes and correct training procedures. I remember sitting down and writing every
variable necessary in biathlon. I was
surprised to find that there were 15 in all, and physical ability was needed in
only one.”
Besides his
marriage, career in medical science with the Air National Guard, Ph.D. studies
in human development at the Fielding Institute of Santa Barbara, CA, and
countless speaking engagements, Nelson cited his refusal to see himself go “downhill”
as another reason to bow out of Olympic competition. But that in no way signifies a “winning is
everything” attitude for him.
What Nelson
will miss most is the true spirit of international competition in a sport where
national boundaries are hardly obvious.
“In our
sport, it’s not Americans vs. Russians or Americans vs. East Germans,” Nelson
said. “We’re all good friends who
constantly joke about each other’s country, coach and culture. The fact that we’re all good friends is incredible
considering we have rifles and about 50 per cent of us are in the
military. That’s what I’ll miss the
most—the camaraderie.”
Carrying
Flag Was a Source of Pride
The U.S.
flag has turned up in some exotic locations over the past few decades.
During
World War II, “Old Glory” was dramatically hoisted over Mount Suribachi on the
small Pacific island of Iwo Jima. On
July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong gallantly planted our flag into the surface of
the moon.
It was with
similar pride and honor that biathlete Lyle Nelson carried his nation’s flag
into Calgary’s McMahon Stadium in the parade of nations which opened February’s
(1988) Winter Olympic Games.
“When you
walk into an Olympic stadium, you experience a different kind of cheer than from
any other sport,” Nelson said. “It’s not
the type where you’re told to kill the other team. Instead, it’s a feeling of all nations being
together and everyone cheering for peace and friendly competition.
“I almost
wished I could have turned around and yelled something, but I was walking way
out in front of everyone else on the team.
You can take everything else from my four different Olympics. That two-minute walk was it for me.”
Nelson was
selected flag-bearer through a popular vote of the entire American
entourage. But the choice was not made
until each of the 10 captains presented a nomination speech for an athlete in
his sport.
“Josh
Thompson is my captain, and he was very eloquent in his argument for me,”
Nelson said. “He not only explained that
I’m the only four-time Olympian and the oldest person on the team (39), but
also that I’ve written and been published on the topic. He argued that I’m not just an athlete, but
part of the Olympic spirit.
"I was pretty excited about it. I've made a fairly serious commitment to the Olympic spirit in fitness, youth sports and promotion of good will. To be recognized as a model Olympian after all that hard work, is extremely rewarding. It's probably like Galileo the first time he actually saw something through the telescope!"
