As you likely know the 2018 Winter Olympics are approaching, to be held in PyeongChang South Korea Feb. 9-15. What you may not know, is that one of our very own, Todd Brost, Senior Advisor here at JGUA is an Olympian! As part of our Advisor Spotlight series we asked Todd to share his Olympic story and as you’ll see, the lessons he took from his experience could be applied to all of our lives in some way.
Enjoy!
-The JGUA Team
1992 in Albertville, France I was able to live a childhood dream of representing Canada in our most passionate sport—hockey.
That was the last year (until now) that NHL plyers were forbidden to play in the Olympics. With that in mind, our team was a group of young college and junior hockey players who had no better options to further their athletic careers. A core group of us had been playing together for about 3 years but over 100 players tried out for the team each year.
Hockey plays a prominent role in Canadian culture (think football in the US) and it was anticipated by Canadians that ‘92 could be the year that we reestablished our former ice hockey dominance on the world stage—the pressure was on. As we headed to France, it did not escape us that on paper we were only the 6th or 7th best team out of the top 12 in the world that would be competing. Of course, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to play the top national teams in the world, including high profile teams of Sweden, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Russia and Germany. The Canadian media picked us to finish 6th as the games approached – leaving France with a medal didn’t necessarily seem realistic.
For the first time at the Winter Olympics, the tournament format advanced pool winners to a single-elimination tournament beginning with eight teams in the quarter-finals. We played Germany in the Quarter Finals and moved on to the Semi Finals against Czechoslovakia. We beat the Czechs in the semifinal 4-2 which meant that we would be going on to compete in the Gold Medal game against Russia. In the end, we lost to the Russians 3-1 however while the Russians took the Gold, our team, the Canadians walked away as Silver Medal Olympians, and made Canada proud.
My silver medal is displayed very proudly in our living room and is a fantastic reminder of what hard work, dedication, team work, discipline, and a burning passion can create.
Our team had a few amazing players who went on to have incredible hockey careers, including Eric Lindros, Sean Burke, Joe Juneau, and Dave Archibald. Our goalie from 1992 is now the General Manager for the 2018 Canadian Olympic team while our former head coach is an assistant coach for the 2018 team. We will always cherish the ‘92 games and our unlikely success in bringing home the silver medal. The entire experience and relationships maintained in the years since, are something that will always be a major influence in my life.
In the end, I think those lessons are things everyone can apply to their life in some way. Take it from an Olympic silver medalist: hard work, perseverance and self-awareness will serve you well and take you further than you may have ever imagined!
To learn more about Todd, you can view his Bio here or contact him directly at [email protected].
