How Bobby Julich’s Olympic Dream Got here True in 2004

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My first reminiscence of the Olympics was watching Eric Heiden throughout the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. We didn’t watch a lot TV in the home after I was rising up, however I believe my mother had a little bit of a crush on Eric, so every time he skated it was on full blast. I knew nothing about pace skating, however by the point he gained his fifth gold medal I used to be launched to the Olympic spirit.

That preliminary publicity to the Olympics grew to become an obsession whereas watching the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. Rising up in Colorado, downhill ski racing was my sport of alternative throughout the winter months. Watching racers like Invoice Johnson, Debbie Armstrong, Christin Cooper, and Phil and Steve Mahre win medals implanted a imaginative and prescient in my head of standing on the Olympic podium myself someday. The issue was I wasn’t that nice of a ski racer!

In the summertime of 1984, my household and I have been up wind browsing at Harvey Hole reservoir like we regularly did on weekends. Immediately my dad began packing up the automotive sooner than regular. I used to be a bit confused as we usually stayed till darkish, however evidently, he needed to get again residence to look at a man named Alexi Grewal, who lived simply up the valley from us in Glenwood Springs, race the Olympic highway race in Los Angeles.

We had a small black and white TV that plugged into the cigarette lighter of our Jeep Wagoneer and was in some way capable of get the channel tuned in. My dad’s plan was to look at as we drove residence within the automotive after which watch the ultimate on TV at residence. The one downside was that as we began driving, we misplaced reception and realized we have been too removed from residence to have the ability to watch the ultimate, so we rotated to the place we final had reception and watched from the aspect of the highway.

I didn’t know something about bike racing on the time, however watching Alexi Grewal beat Steve Bauer in an exciting dash end for the gold medal despatched a shiver up my backbone. I don’t know why, as I didn’t also have a highway bike, however that imaginative and prescient of standing on the Olympic podium was much more clear in my head.

There’s a lengthy story of how I transferred my focus from soccer, baseball, and snowboarding into biking, however I’ll save that for an additional day.

I made the transition from junior to senior racing in 1990. I used to be rapidly capable of adapt to the longer and tougher races and it was clear that my objective was to make the 1992 Olympic workforce for Barcelona. In my thoughts this might be the primary of many as after 1992, the Olympics can be open to professionals. Let’s simply say that issues didn’t go based on plan…

In 1992, I wound up not making the workforce for Barcelona.

In 1996 I had an episode of RVST (re-entrant supraventricular tachycardia) throughout the trials and didn’t make the workforce for Atlanta.

In 2000, I used to be using terribly and had no likelihood in any respect to make the workforce for Sydney.

In 2004, I used to be getting older however had lately switched groups to Staff CSC and felt reborn on the bike after a couple of years of poor outcomes and low confidence. I don’t know what it was, however instantly, I used to be comfortable and using properly once more. The qualification standards for the Olympic workforce have been fairly difficult, however the first race of the yr the place you may qualify for a spot for the upcoming video games in Athens was Paris-Good.

I wound up ending third that yr in Paris-Good which put my identify within the combine for the Olympic highway race. I knew that there have been much more qualification races left on the calendar and quite a lot of guys from the USA have been using properly, so I didn’t give that a lot thought to it.

Because the season went on, the dream of collaborating within the Olympics began to change into actual as my identify was nonetheless on the checklist of 5 riders who met the qualification standards for the highway race, however with all of the politics that generally play an element in closing choice, I wouldn’t say that I used to be assured in making the workforce.

When the decision lastly got here that I’d be representing Staff USA within the highway race it was one of many proudest days of my life. After lacking the chance to symbolize my nation within the earlier three Olympic Video games, I used to be lastly going to be an Olympian!

I knew that my probabilities to medal within the highway race can be fairly slim, so I deliberate to soak in each expertise that being on the Olympics provides to the fullest. I figured that every one I’d come residence with is a cool observe swimsuit and a few nice recollections, however then my cellphone rang…

My coronary heart sank as I figured that I used to be about to be told that by a “coaches’ choice” I had been faraway from the workforce choice. I overlook who it was from USA Biking who known as, however as a substitute of being faraway from the workforce, I used to be knowledgeable that I’d even be considered one of two riders collaborating within the time trial occasion!

It’s one other lengthy story for an additional time between the time this name occurred and stepping onto the Olympic podium in Athens, however imagine me, the sensation is even higher than you may think about.

Staff USA is stacked this yr with nice cyclists in many alternative disciplines and I’m actually trying ahead to watching as many occasions as I can and cheering them on. I do know that each rider on the Olympics has their very own distinctive story about how they bought thus far, however my recommendation to all of them is identical: get pleasure from each second of it.

Good luck to all of the athletes collaborating in Paris! Deliver residence some {hardware}, however the tracksuit is fairly cool as properly.