Here's a nice long article about Lana! ;D
Lana Gehring returns home to inspire next Olympians by Pat Krochmal / April 8, 2010
Olympic bronze medal winner Lana Gehring returned to West Northfield District 31's Field School today, not with a flourish, but with softly spoken words of wisdom.
"You guys are 11, 12, 13. I was right here, sitting in this auditorium a few years ago just like you are now. And I'm telling you that you can really do what you want to do, be what you want to be -- if you work at it," Gehring said, looking out into the audience at her former middle school in Northbrook.
Lana Gehring, 19, visited at Field Middle School Tuesday, talking to students about her career, highlighted by her bronze medal at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.(Brian O'Mahoney/Staff Photographer) Lana Gehring, 19, speaks to students at her Field Middle School Tuesday, about skating ing the Winter Olympics. A former Field Middle school student, Gehring was part of the bronze medal-winning 3,000-meter relay team.(Brian O'Mahoney/Staff Photographer)"Dream without limits. You can achieve anything. There is nothing holding you back, but yourself," she added.
Read the entire article at:
www.pioneerlocal.com/northbrook/news/2144188,northbrook-gehring-040810-s1.article
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Gehring, now 19, told the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students that she began figure skating at the Glenview Ice Center when she was 8, because her older sister, Amber, now a 23-year-old student math teacher at Glenbrook North High School, had done that.
However, when Lana heard about the speed skating that was being taught at the Northbrook Speedskating Club, she thought she would give that a try.
"And I loved it, just loved it! I had great coaches at both rinks, but a great deal of credit for the good base I have should go to Rob and Cindy Darrow, who made skating fun. He also made us set skating and personal goals, which turned out to be very important. Then, as I started getting older, I began entering competitions," she added.
Soon, Gehring had experience on both short and long tracks, and at 14 won a position on each of the 2004 Junior Short and Long Track teams.
Then she became the 2007 U.S. Junior Short Track Champion and on the 2007 World Junior Short Track Team, and the 2008 U.S. Junior Short Track Champion and on the 2008 World Junior Short Track Team.
Now concentrating only on short track competition, Gehring became the 2009 U.S. Junior Short Track Champion, while also competing on the 2008-09 World Cup circuit. She also was a member of the gold medal relay team at World Cup 6, and helped send the team to a bronze finish at the 2009 World Short Track Team Championships.
Then at 16, Gehring moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, and into an apartment by herself to train with the national team, though her parents, Debbie and John, who own JL Plumbing in Glenview, were not excited by the idea.
"But having her move out so young and being able to handle all the washing, cleaning and cooking, as well as school and practice, has been good for her," said Debbie, her mom.
"I always give 100 percent to whatever I'm doing, so training all those hours wasn't a problem. It was shopping and carrying six bags of groceries up three flights of stairs that was the greatest challenge," Lana said.
However, if Lana had to name one key to her success, it would be her parents and the work ethic they've taught her through example, she said.
And that may have been enough to get her where she wanted to go -- until just eight weeks before the Olympic team tryouts in September. That is when Lana came down with mononucleosis, prohibiting her from practicing, until her mother nursed her back to health.
Then Lana's speedy and nimble skating, as well as a change in her strategy for the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, helped win her a place on the 2010 Olympic team.
In the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Lana skated in the 3,000-meter relay, where she helped carry her team to the four-team finals. There, the team finished fourth but moved up a place to win a bronze medal upon the disqualification of the second-place-finishing South Korean team.
Lana, who grew up in Glenview, is a 2009 graduate of Glenbrook South High School, who also attended Winklelman and Field Schools.
Teachers at Field described Lana as a "quiet" and "athletic" student who had a "strong work ethic" and was "very focused."
Michael Wasielewski, Lana's former Field social studies teacher, said he had had tried to recruit her to play on the basketball team, time and time again.
"She was tall and seemed to enjoy playing basketball, but whenever I would ask her about joining the team, she would say 'No. I have to skate.' I never thought that someone that age, 13 or 14, could be that focused," Wasielewski said.
"But I also didn't know she was winning skating competitions all over, because she never talked about it. She's not the kind who comes in and says 'Look what I've done!'"
In fact, Lana had left a paragraph with her former physical education teacher and track coach, Elizabeth Maher, indicating how Lana sees her life and goals.
"The one day you take time off, that's the day you get weaker and someone else gets stronger; The one day you don't go in to practice and use the day to the fullest is the day that someone will beat you."
However, right now Lana is kicking back and enjoying time with her family before returning to Salt Lake City to begin preparing for her next winter Olympic competition in Sochi, Russia, four years from now.
"Training is so intensive and we (Lana and her teammates) were so worried about our performance before the Olympics, that right now I just feel relief," Lana said.
"I just decided a few days ago to stop competing after Russia, and go back to school. I'm not sure yet what kind of career I want, because this sport is my passion... but maybe teaching," she added.
And some of the students listening to Lana thought she would make a pretty good teacher.
"She makes me want to be an NFL player," said Ted Steger, a 12-year-old sixth grader from Glenview.
And, added Jong Kim, a 13-year-old eighth grader from Glenview: "She has already taught me that you have to work hard for your dreams."[/img]
Tags: Lana Gehring ; Short Track Speedskating