Original Article Link:
www.columbiatribune.com/2009/Jan/20090127Spor003.asp- - - - - -
Fast track to the OlympicsWilson gives all to speedskating in 2010 Games.By DAVID BRIGGS of the Tribune’s staff
Published Tuesday, January 27, 2009Carly Wilson’s journey to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver has not been without delay.
The 22-year-old speedskater from Jefferson City was beset first by the struggle to find a fulfilling identity, which led her to take a season off, and then by a mysterious breathing ailment.
Yet Wilson, who in 2005 emerged as one of the nation’s top short-track skaters, is at last free to chase her dream full throttle. College, and maybe a little soccer - the sport she starred in at Jefferson City High School and still loves - can wait.
Training with the U.S. National Training Program at the Utah Olympic Oval in a Salt Lake City suburb, Wilson is on the ice every morning from 8 to noon before laboring through three or four hours of dry-land conditioning. The routine will not drift until September’s Olympic Trials in Marquette, Mich., from where five of the eight women in the short-track training program will secure trips even farther north.
Imagine that, Wilson says, an Olympic speedskater from Mid-Missouri.
"Pretty cool," she said. "That would mean everything to me. From my trips overseas, the pride that you have for your country is unbelievable. And coming from a small town, it would mean even more."
Wilson’s speedskating ride began serendipitously in the third grade. A lifer on the ice, though first as a figure skater, Wilson always loved to skate fast, and would chase her older brother and his friends at the Washington Park Ice Arena. One of those buddies happened to race competitively and told Wilson she should join the Jefferson City Speedskating Club.
Wilson gave it a shot, and …
"She was a natural from the start," said Paul Rudder, Wilson’s club coach. "She just had this instinct to race."
Wilson soon was not only the club’s top skater but enjoying success on a national level. She began receiving interest from national team coaches in eighth grade and went on to place second overall at the 2005 Junior Nationals.
Life was good, except for one thing. Wilson also loved soccer, and she would spend her senior year of high school training with the national team in Marquette.
Wilson told her coach, Chris Miller, she would be back in the spring to play soccer. But not even Wilson’s mother, Joyce, expected her to follow through.
"We won’t get her back," Miller remembers telling one of his assistants. "Why would she risk everything to play soccer?"
For Wilson, though, it was never a question.
"Didn’t have to think about it," she said. "I was playing my senior year."
Wilson returned with a new sense of urgency. The midfielder set out to stonewall the oppositions’ top scoring threat while adding clutch offense of her own. In a 3-1 playoff victory over Hickman, Wilson scored on a header in the second minute and was later in tears as the Jays celebrated their first district title in seven years.
"She had traveled around the world and led this bigger life," Miller said. "But here she was happier for her friends than anything."
Wilson would have loved to pursue soccer in college. But she was developing into a world-class skater and couldn’t pass on the opportunity to keep training. She finished fourth overall at the 2005 Short Track Nationals and was part of the fifth-place relay team at the ’05 World Championships.
Life away from home wasn’t always easy. Wilson wondered if she might be happier living a more normal college life and took the 2006-07 season off to clear her mind. And when she returned, a health scare set her back once more. Wilson needed surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids after experiencing severe breathing trouble on the ice. Her fall season was a wash.
Finally healthy, Wilson said she’s refreshed and ready to put up the fastest times of her career. Next year, she might try her hand at long-track skating or begin work on a degree in interior design - and maybe join a soccer team.
But for now, all Wilson can think about is representing Jefferson City on speedskating’s greatest stage: the Olympics.
"To know that I can and I will," Wilson said, "and then actually doing it, it will be unbelievable."