Hi friends,
Did you
watch Sochi Olympic? I am so impressed with Noriaki Kasai who is the ski jumper
from Japan. His competitors are almost half of his age but he got a silver
medal at the age of 41.
How
encouraging is that?
Unlike golf,
ski jumping is hardly a sport for 40 and plus, needless to say about competing
at the world class level. It was his 7th Olympic as well. 3 games
more than Steve Redgrave! Absolutely fabulous, isn’t he?
Kasai was
not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Any winter sports cost parents arms
and legs for training. His father was unemployed. It was his mother who raised
3 children with unconditional dedication. Although Kasai was showing his talent
by the age of 15 to represent his country, his parents could not afford a new
ski jumping suit for him. Kasai was receiving his team member’s old suit to
attend competitions. His parents later divorced. I suspect that his mother had
enough of her useless husband, then, Kasai and his sisters became totally
estranged from his father. (Years later, he reconciled with his father.)
When he
became a high school student, his younger sister became seriously ill.
Somewhat, he believed that his sister would be miraculously cured if he won a
gold medal. He continued harder training than anyone in the national team.
After that
his house was burnt down as a result of arson. His mother was badly burnt and
tragically passed away at the age of only 48.
His friends
recall that they never thought he had gone through such hardship, as he was
always cheerful and joking and looked genuinely happy and enjoying his life.
Even his closest friends did not know about his younger sister being seriously
ill.
It requires
incredible strength to hold himself under such circumstances. It is
beyond anyone’s imagination.
I simply
respect Kasai for his sheer determination.
Ladies,
there is such a decent man in the world. Let’s keep scrubbing, shall we?
