Last Team Meeting

Listening to speedskater Catriona Le May Doan talk about her doubts heading into the 2002 Olympics was a relief to Regan Lauscher.

The luge athlete from Red Deer, Alta., has had her own challenges to deal with and just knowing she wasn't alone gave her peace of mind.

It's that kind of information sharing Canadian Olympic Committee officials had in mind when they planned the Olympic Excellence Series.

The Canadian Olympic Committee’s final instalment of the series before the 2010 Games opens Friday in Vancouver and concludes Monday.

It's the last opportunity for Canada's Olympic team to be together before they gather for the opening ceremonies Feb. 12.

During a seminar a year ago in Whistler, B.C., Le May Doan opened up to other athletes about her fears in trying to defend her gold medal at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.

"Just to hear Catriona say 'I broke down and didn't think I could do it' before 2002, to hear someone who you think would never stumble . . . and for them to sit there and listen to you, know who you are and say 'We support you, you're here for a reason and part of this group and everyone knows you can do it', you really feel you have an enormous support group behind you,'' said Lauscher.

Lauscher had surgery on one shoulder and was two weeks away from surgery on the other when she attended the Whistler event. She missed half of this season rehabilitating the injuries.

"I definitely had to come back to the words of these people and I still lean on them when I sit there and go 'I don't know. Can I do it still? It's a year out now and I still feel like I'm not there, but I want to be and have the potential to be and I'm capable of it.'''

Lauscher is among about 100 athletes planning to attend this weekend's events and another 100 coaches and support staff will be there too. Athletes who have finished top five in world championships and World Cups were invited.

Canadian ultra marathoner Ray Zahab, who recently completed an Arctic expedition, Norwegian speedskater Johan Olav Koss and Canadian synchronized swimmer Sylvie Frechette will be the key speakers.

The athletes and coaches will also participate in team-building activities and strategy sessions with athlete mentors Le May Doan, former rower Marnie McBean and freestyle skier Veronica Brenner.

"For a home Games, there will be a lot of demands on athletes from all angles,'' said Derek Covington, the COC's director of Olympic preparation and Games.

"Things that take you off your Games are what the Olympics are all about. That's what makes it different than any other event that they'll ever go to because there's so many more variables that are layered on top of the practice of their sport.''

Retired and even current Olympians tell first-timers about issues that can be addressed months before the Games so their performance isn't affected in Vancouver, Covington added.

What won't be formally addressed this weekend is the COC's goal of the host team winning more medals than any other country in 2010.

"We won't be dealing with the topic,'' Covington said.” The goals are out there as they were for Beijing. It's up to each one of the sports and athletes to decide how they want to achieve their own personal goals.''

Rowing Canada's national team co-ordinator Adam Parfitt will conduct a session with coaches and support staff on how he juggled the demands of 150 family and friends of the rowing team in Beijing.

Koss was invited to speak because he won five medals - four gold and one silver - when his country hosted the Olympics in Lillehammer in 1992, Covington said.

Karen Cockburn, a three-time Olympic medallist in trampoline, said prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing she discussed having knee surgery with wrestler Daniel Igali at one of these COC sessions. His advice steered her towards going under the knife and she won a silver medal in Beijing.

A personality profiling exercise Lauscher participated in last year in Whistler was a revelation. The 29-year-old discovered she had a sensitive ''blue'' personality while her physiotherapist Louise Vien and coach Wolfgang Staudinger were scientific ''green'' personalities.

"You learn about yourself and team dynamics and how you would handle a situation, but a coach or a teammate would see it differently,'' she explained.” You learn to separate that it's not personal. It's kind of who they are.''

The personality profiling opened lines of communication and understanding that can lead to better performance, Covington added.

"I've heard that a lot from people, who said it changed their entire year in terms of how they worked together in training groups,'' he said.

Based on previous experience, Lauscher expects to come out of this seminar inspired and more confident as she prepare for 2010.

"This might sound funny, but I feel more normal,'' she said.” It’s easy to think 'I must be the only one who gets worried about this or has to deal with this.'

"You can ask people 'did you ever have this problem and how did you deal with it?'''