On November 29, 2010, Michael Landsberg shared his OTR stage with Jeff and had some fun asking relevant, and some not so relevant, questions about sport and life. Although the information Jeff shares on this show had me blushing, I was reminded that is all in our book, and more. Enjoy!
Jeff’s Retirement Speech
November 1st, 2010 by Aly & Jeff PainJeff announced his official retirement from Skeleton on Wednesday, October 27th, 2010. We are grateful for the coverage, support and kind words we have received. We thought it important to post Jeff’s actual speech here for you to read. There were many people to thank and moments to remember as we closed a 15 year chapter in our lives.
15 Years on the National Team
10 years in the top 10 over-all
2x World Cup Over-all Champion
1x World Cup Over-all second
4 time World Cup Over-all 4th
74 World Cup appearances
10 World cup Gold
6 World cup silver
6 World Cup Bronze
7 World Cup 4 place finishes
Total of 41 World Cup top 6’s
5 Track Records held at the same time, 2 of them still standing
10 World Championship Appearances
8 World Championship top 8’s
2 World Championship Gold
1 World Championship Silver
3x Winter Olympian
Olympic Silver Medallist
3 black eyes
2 cracked ribs
And one unconfirmed concussion
Still married with 2 amazing kids
I guess when I put it this way, it seems like I did pretty well……..
Standing at the start line this February, however, was the most painful experience of my life. Physically I was severely damaged and mentally I was barely holding it together. Three weeks before the games I severely tore my abdominal muscles right at the attachment to the pubic bone. I could not roll over in bed, sit up, walk up stairs, or do anything faster than a walk without cascades of pain shooting up into my rib cage and down through my groin into my legs. We did everything possible to manage the situation and I went to the line at the Olympics with an ‘over the recommended dosage’ amount of local anaesthetic injected into my stomach in about 20 different locations and with enough tape to give even me rock hard abs. My warm-ups were severely altered as I could not do any typical sprinting or warm-up to prepare. As I stood at the line for my first run I had hope, as I am the eternal optimist, but 4 steps into my first push I knew my Olympics were over. Any healing I had done for the past 4 weeks was undone in a moment and I barely managed to get thru the push without blacking out from the pain. To compound the problem the pain was not only present while pushing, but it shot thru my body with every steering movement I made. Turning right was the worst and most of the big corners in Whistler go right. I barely made it to the line for my second run and my even slower push time reflected it. After day 1 I was well back and essentially had zero chance of moving up into the medals let alone the top 6. The quality of sliders ahead of me or close to me was simply too high and the chances of enough of them failing and my injured body from doing what I wanted were basically zero.
So, I had a choice Thursday night as I lay in bed curled in a ball trying not to move – I could quit – and anyone that really knew what was going on would not have blamed me – or I could finish what I started and accept whatever result I ended with. I decided that I owed it to myself, my family, my coaches, my team, and my country. This was never all about me and this was very obvious to me at that point.
For day two of the race we injected even more anaesthetic than the day before and added more tape. Run one was another average performance and now any type of result was now 100% out of my reach. So again, I faced the choice, quit or go forward. I never quit and this was not the time to start. I decided that my final run, and likely the final run of my career, was going to be as great as I could make it and if my stomach muscles ripped right off the bone then so be it. I pushed my fastest time of the 4 heats and had one of the best runs of my life. I can’t say I am happy with my final Olympic ranking, but I am incredibly proud of that last run.
I am ashamed to say that through all the physical pain and mental stress that I could just not do it. I couldn’t be good enough to medal again. But I knew it was vital I finish what I started 15 years ago and my family sacrificed so much for.
It is almost surreal to look back at what I accomplished knowing how incredibly difficult it was and how much I changed and the sport changed. When I first began competing internationally in Skeleton the national team was comprised of those people who were willing to pay their own way. If you had 6 or 7 thousand to fund the trip, off you went – three guys stuffed into a Volkswagen Rabbit, making connections and friends along the way to learn where the cheapest pensions were, and spending every spare penny on extra training runs. With our inclusion into the Olympic Games everything changed, both for the good and the bad. Teams got a lot more support from their countries and one or two coaches became the norm along with physio, massage, chiropractic care, on track video and review, and team managers. Unfortunately, this also saw the end of a lot of the inter-nation co-operation. In the beginning we all traveled and worked together because we had to survive and learn together. Some of my closest friends from the sport come out of those days of travelling with the Brits and Americans eating hot dogs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner while sleeping on beds you wouldn’t wish on your dog. Today the time requirements of the sport and the technology within Skeleton have evolved so far I would simply not have been able to keep up without all of the funding partners like OTP, the COC, Sport Canada, Can Fund, B2Ten, the Canadian Government, and Bobsled Canada Skeleton.
I was probably the first person to come into the sport in Canada to say “I’m here for a reason – I want this sport to go Olympic and I want to be in position to go when it does.” In my first World Cup I finished 33rd with 2 black eyes in Altenberg, germany but I did beat about 20 guys! Somewhere along the way I installed myself as a permanent fixture in the top 10 and then the top 6 and I have stayed there ever since, even setting the track record in altenberg just a few years ago. It has been such an honor to slide against the incredible men from around the world and Canada. If it were not for the friends and the people I met, I likely would not have stayed in the sport so long. Thank-you to all of you for allowing me to test myself against you for so long, I am honored by your dedication and passion for our sport.
When I first began, Canadian Skeleton was in its infancy, but it did have the beginnings of a culture of excellence and winning thanks to Ryan Davenport. He was my bench mark for so long and he helped me by being so good and giving me a level of excellence to chase. I will never forget the first time I beat him in St. Morritz at the World championships. As I am sure there are many sliders here who remember the first time they beat me.
I know that I am a part of that continuing belief and expectation in Canada that we can and do win World cups, World Championships, and Olympic medals. We do it because we have proven it can be done and we believe it not only can be done, but will be done. It is now up to others to lead this team into its future and chase the best in the world.
Even though I was injured before the games and did not win the gold or any medal it is important that Canada still took home the gold and I can take a small bit of solace in the fact that I had a part in that happening. Jon, Mike, and I pushed each other hard over the years and this constant need to improve created the environment to make the medal happen for Canada.
To my sponsors, I cannot thank-you enough. Tiverton, AON, Totalline Transport, Encana, and Athena Resources – thank-you for believing in me and giving me an opportunity to pursue my Gold medal dream. You are leaders in your industries for a reason and Canada needs more people and companies like you to take up the reins of our nation’s athletes.
Maintaining the momentum Canada found at the Olympics in February takes effort, commitment, sacrifice, and support. Take the stress out of an athlete’s life through secure finances and I believe the results we see will be beyond what we can imagine. So much of the resources today are allocated to the technology, the travel, the medical, and so little of it is allocated to the athletes directly. Who better to know what an athlete needs than the athlete themselves? This is where people like Jane Roos at CanFund make such a huge difference in getting money into the hands of the athletes directly. A special thank-you to Can Fund for the support thru the years.
I was very fortunate to be a member of the B2Ten group and without them the past four years simply would not have been possible. To the past, present, and future donors to B2Ten, thank-you for spearheading a revolution in Canadian sport. Your efforts are so vital to the fabric of our nation. Please keep believing and leading.
The training and coaching teams that I built, and had help building around me, Andy Kupchek, Mike Steen, Damian Moroney, Scott Livingston, Amber Kunimoto, Mark Wood, Willi Schneider, and so many others from long ago thank-you for teaching me and helping me to all of my successes.
To the people who kept my body together and healthy thank-you so much., A special thank-you to Dr, Greg Uchacz at the Chiropractic Sport and Therapy Clinic here in Calgary– his dedication to me as an athlete has spanned over 10 years and there is no way I could have had the results I did without his care and attention.
Keeping my head screwed on tight was no small task and I have Richard Monet to thanks for so much of the learning I have made over my career. As a sport psychologist, mentor, and friend you are unequalled.
To BCS, thanks for putting up with me and providing an environment where excellence can prevail and medals are won.
Thank-you to the FIBT for growing our sport and giving us the venues and opportunities to test ourselves.
No one has sacrificed more than my wife, Aly, and my two kids, Thomas and Kyle, and I know how hard this journey was on you. Thank-you for helping me try. I hope someday we understand why this has all happened and our lives can continue to grow and be rich together.
In this journey thru sport, it became evident to Aly and I that we had a valuable story that needed to be shared. Thank-you to Mary Murphy for helping us write our book “The business of Marriage and Medals”. We hope to have an impact on the state of relationships from the bedroom to the boardroom throughout Canada, the USA, and maybe the world.
Through our book signings and interactions with some of Canada’s military personnel we learned that we have so much in common with the military life. Extended periods of time away, lower economic realities, passionate pursuit of one’s ideals and goals, and representing our nation with pride are but a few of the things we share in common with the military personnel. Aly and I have a place in our hearts for all the relationships out there who are struggling with the realities of life, marriage, and kids. We wrote our book to bring forward a lot of the situations and conversations that we all know we are having, but no one will talk about. We want to do our part to have a positive effect on relationships throughout North America and the maybe the world.”
One of my greatest fears has always been the effect my Skeleton life, and the subsequent travel, will have on my kids’ lives. I was deeply honored to be granted an audience with Mr. Jack Nicklaus last summer and I spent two hours talking with him about the intricacies of family and competition. I put this concern forward to Jack and he told me that as long as they always know I am there for them and will be there for them that it will all work out OK. Knowing this, from such a successful man both in sport and family was perhaps the greatest gift of learning to come from those two hours. Special thank-yous to Mr. Nicklaus and his amazing staff who in conjunction with Chris Dornan arranged this meeting.
The question now is always “now what Jeff?” I am looking at short term and long term options with a few rising to the top and catching my attention. Where ever I end I up, Skeleton has taught me that I now have a strong desire to build a world class team where my results are completely interdependent on the results of my team. I am less and less interested in individual pursuits. I have the skills to present, be in front of people, think creatively, do world class performance analysis, and I know how to win. As well, Aly and I will be speaking to sports groups, families, corporations, and the military about relationships and how we made it through very trying times.
Finally, although it is impossible to adequately thank everyone for the gifts they brought me, I would like to extend a thank-you to all of Canada for the support and love throughout the years. Canada is the greatest country in the world with the greatest people. Thanks for the honor of letting me help prove it to the world.
CTV Calgary Evening News October 27, 2010
October 28th, 2010 by Aly & Jeff PainWe are humbled by the great coverage at our press conference covering Jeff’s official retirement. Being there was difficult and watching this again feels harder. Thank you for 15 years of representing Canada!
The Record.com October 28, 2010
October 28th, 2010 by Aly & Jeff PainBY DONNA SPENCER
CALGARY — An emotional Jeff Pain bid farewell to the sport of skeleton Wednesday, while revealing he competed in this year’s Winter Olympics with torn abdominal muscles.
The 39-year-old from Calgary, who won a silver medal at the 2006 Olympics, said he could barely walk to the start line at the Whistler Sliding Centre in February.
“It was awful,” Pain said at Canada Olympic Park. “My dream, my goal was to win the gold as every athlete there was and I knew pretty much from the first three steps of my first run that wasn’t going to happen.
“It was a real gut check as to why I was there. I realized I wasn’t there for me. I was there for Canada, I was there for my family and I was there to finish what I started.”
Pain finished ninth in Whistler while teammate Jon Montgomery won gold. Pain had torn his stomach muscles while racing at a World Cup in Igls, Austria, a month out from the Games.
“I tore my abdominals right off the pubic bone,” he said. “We were hoping three weeks of healing was going to do it and four steps into my first run, it didn’t work.”
Pain wiped away tears Wednesday while remembering his disappointment of not being able to race to his potential at the Olympics and also when talking about the support of his wife Aly.
Pain and his wife collaborated on the book “The Business of Marriage and Medals” which chronicles their financial struggles and the strain Pain’s athletic career placed on their family during his extended absences competing around the world.
The couple, who have two sons, discovered while promoting their book that their lives were similar to those of military families. Jeff and Aly Pain intend to do public speaking for military families starting Nov. 19 at the Military Museum in Calgary. They’ll share how they coped with extended time apart and the sacrifices they made for Pain to compete internationally.
“We’ve come to realize we have a lot in common with military families,” Pain said. “While my life was never in grave danger as theirs is, they live in a similar environment of extended period of time away from family, a lower-income environment and representing one’s nation with pride.”
A major concern of Pain’s during his career was whether his athletic career would negatively affect his children. He met with golfer Jack Nicklaus last summer and asked him “Are your kids OK? Will mine be OK?”
“He said ‘As long as they know you’re always going to be there for them, they’ll be just fine,”” Pain said.
Pain won a pair of world championships and had 10 World Cup victories during his 15-year career. Skeleton was added to the Winter Olympic program for the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City. Pain won his first world title the following year.
After taking most of 2003-04 off because of a foot injury, he was a consistent contender for the international podium for the rest of his career. Canada nearly swept an Olympic podium for the first time when Duff Gibson won gold, Pain the silver and Paul Boehm finished fourth in 2006.
“It’s now up to other athletes in the program to lead the charge and lead the world,” Pain said. “Even though I was injured before the Games and didn’t win the medal I wanted, it was really important that Canada still brought home the gold.”
Pain said skeleton’s inclusion in the Olympics decreased co-operation between athletes from different countries because the competitive stakes were higher. But the Olympics dramatically increased the financial and technical support for athletes.
“When I first started competing in skeleton, the national team was basically whoever could come up with six thousand dollars,” he recalled. “We travelled ourselves, equipped ourselves and coached ourselves.
“We’d spend every spare penny we had on extra training runs and eat hot dogs for breakfast, lunch and supper. We’d sleep in beds I wouldn’t wish on your dog.”
Pain has been appointed to the ethics commission of the FIBT, which is the world governing body of bobsleigh and skeleton, and is also on the Canadian Olympic Committee’s athletes commission.
He isn’t sure what his next step will be professionally, but is certain whatever it is, he won’t do it alone.
“Whatever I land on, for me it has to be a team environment,” Pain said. “I have less interest in individual pursuits now after 15 years of trying to beat my teammates. While we were a team, we were still trying to beat each other. I don’t what it is, but I want lead a team, create a team and build a team.
“And I want to make a lot of money.”
The Canadian Press
Calgary Herald October 28, 2010
October 28th, 2010 by Aly & Jeff PainArguably the most accomplished individual athlete in the history of the Canadian skeleton program is moving on with his life.
At 40, after three Olympic Games that included a silver medal in Torino 2006, two overall World Cup championships, 74 World Cup podium appearances, a pair of World Championships and 15 years as a pioneer in skeleton, Calgary’s Jeff Pain has decided to retire.
“Today marks the end of an incredible journey and an amazing chapter in my life,’’ said Pain during a media conference at Canada Olympic Park. “Our sport has come a long way since the days of travelling Europe, living in cars and hostels and so have I.’’
The 40-year, born in Anchorage, Alaska, husband and father of two felt the time had come to spend more time with his family after committing himself so exhaustively to skeleton the past decade and a half.
“It’s the end of an era,’’ said Canadian national skeleton team coach Duff Gibson. “Jeff is, in my opinion, one of the two best sliders in the history of our sport.’’
Pain competed at Whistler in the Vancouver 2010 Games despite tearing an abdominal muscle three weeks prior to the competition. He and his wife Aly recently co-wrote The Business of Marriage and Medals, and will begin sharing their experiences of juggling family and high-performance athletics with Canada’s military families.
Vancouver Sun October 28, 2010
October 28th, 2010 by Aly & Jeff Pain
CALGARY — Jeff Pain remembers lying in bed after the first day of competition at Whistler Sliding Centre seven months ago, hurting in mind and body, fully understanding how it would end.
“Four steps into my first run I knew it wasn’t going to work,’’ he recalls. “I knew my Olympic dream, my goal, was dead. I remember trying to sleep that night, curled in a ball, asking myself over and over: ‘Do I quit or do I slide?’
“The answer was pretty easy: I never quit.’’
At the start the first run of the final World Cup pre-Olympic tune-up, Canada’s most decorated skeleton athlete tore abdominal muscles.
“I was in a race against time,’’ Pain says. “A race I didn’t know at the time that I couldn’t win. We hoped that it’d be OK in three weeks.’’
The injury has taken seven months to heal.
“It was awful. A real gut-check as to why I was there, and after a lot of soul searching, I realized I wasn’t there for me. I was there for Canada, I was there for my family and I was there to finish what I’d started 15 years before.
“So I crawled to the start line the next day and did my best — and my best was ninth.
“The ‘Why me?’ ‘Why did this happen then’ . . . it’s still there. Up until the moment I tore my abdominals everything was on track. My equipment was great, my pushes were getting me what I wanted, personal bests. Then to have it all stripped away in a moment is … confusing. I still don’t know the answer.
“I suppose it’s something I can grab onto, that I did finish. That I did up stand and represent Canada as proudly as I could. But do I wish it’d been different? Of course.’’
On Wednesday, with the Canadian men’s team in attendance at Canada Olympic Park’s Hall of Fame, Pain, occasionally wiping away tears, bid an emotional, eloquent farewell to a sport he helped shape and usher into a new era.
From a young guy paying his own way around Europe, sleeping in cars and hostels, spending every extra dime on training runs to an Olympic medal winner renowned for his perfectionism, Pain pioneered skeleton in Canada.
“Today,’’ said national team coach Duff Gibson, “is the end of an era.’’
As the rest of the team headed out to a training session at the track following the news conference, Pain, for the first time in a long time, went home to be full-time husband and father.
“There’s a large part of me saying ‘Hooray!’ ’’ said his wife, Aly, with whom he co-wrote The Business of Marriage and Medals. “I’m not going to try to kid you by saying I’m not ecstatic that Jeff has been home in October for the first time in four years and next month he will be home for the first November in 10 years.
“I’m delighted about that, as are our children, but it’s been difficult to watch, particularly the way that it ended. The transition has been far greater in magnitude than we had estimated. That part surprises us the most.
“Because we are married — Jeff’s one of very few Canadian Olympic athletes who is married — we have two children, he has a degree, he’s run his own business for 14 years, he’s very familiar with how real life works.
“We underestimated what the transition would mean emotionally, though. It’s been much bigger than we thought.’’
Pain’s skeleton resume is without equal in this country. Three-time Olympian. Silver medallist, behind Gibson, at Turin 2006. Two-time World Cup over-all champion and twice world champion. Twenty-two World Cup podiums.
After deciding to retire, he put out unsuccessful coaching feelers. Pain plans to spend a year away from the track before reassessing his options.
Pain’s competitive legacy will remain undisturbed.
“Jeff was the guy on the team years before I showed up and years after I left,’’ lauded Gibson. “So he’s been doing one thing full-on for a long time. It’s always a tough transition, when you retire. I know. He even sold his business a couple years to be totally dedicated to Whistler.
“He has nothing to feel bad about, to regret.
“He’s the most meticulously prepared athlete I’ve ever been around. Staying up until 2 or 3 in the morning watching video after everyone else has gone to sleep. Fanatically detail-oriented. Dedicated.
“That’s Jeff.’’
In his farewell speech, Pain spoke of his concern over his prolonged absences affecting his children. He spoke with the golf great Jack Nicklaus last year on the subject.
“I asked him ‘Are your kids OK? Will mine be OK?’ And he said ‘As long as they know you’ll always be there for them, they’ll be fine.’ Knowing this from such a successful man in sport and life meant a lot.’’
Success for Pain now will now be measured in a different ways.
“Will I ever feel those butterflies in the same way? I don’t know. I’m certainly not addicted to it. I don’t feel the need to go and re-create that feeling.
“It’s just that right now, in the moment, I don’t understand it. I really don’t know what to feel.’’
If Pain didn’t quite know what to feel, he certainly knew what to say.
“I’d like to thank to thank all the people of Canada,’’ he murmured, haltingly, at the end of his address. “Canada is the greatest country in the world.
“And it’s been an honour to share that.’’
gjohnson@theherald.canwest.com
Book Review from Impact Magazine
September 23rd, 2010 by Aly & Jeff PainThank you so much for your review of our book! Impact Magazine has been keeping readers up to date with sports, training, health and therapy for years, along with reviewing related book and this month they chose ours. I have pasted the review below.
The Business of Marriage and Medals
by Jeff and Aly Pain
Self published, 185 pages
As sports books go, this one is unusual. This is not just about Jeff Pain’s Olympic path and career and how he got to the top in the world of skeleton racing. This book, co-written with his wife of 12 years, Aly, is about how they shared that path. Aly Pain is a life coach who specializes in human potential and building strong relationships.
A highly introspective woman passionate about personal growth, Aly’s voice as the other half of an Olympic athlete team is unique and enlightening. Jeff Pain is a three time Olympian who raced for Canada in the inaugural skeleton event in Salt Lake City, won silver in Torino in 2006, and competed at Whistler 2010. He is typical of many Canadian athletes, with a strong desire to be an Olympian at all costs coupled with sheer grit and ability.
“At all costs” for most Canadian athletes generally means forgoing the day job and financial security, scraping by on next to nothing while travelling the world chasing competitions and qualifying standards to feed a dream. To be an elite athlete is to think only of what is best for your goals. Jeff and Aly don’t gloss over how challenging this can be for the partners of Olympians. In this book, Jeff and Aly write in separate open and honest journal style entries, about how Jeff’s path almost cost them their marriage.
They highlight how mistakes made along the way became the catalyst for a better relationship.
— Lucy Smith http://impactmagazine.ca/