Episode 71: Doug Lewis - Building complete athletes with ELITEAM, 2x Olympian and World Championship medalist in alpine skiing

Today’s guest is Doug Lewis. Doug is the founder and CEO of ELITEAM, a company that provides sports and fitness camps and programs focusing on building complete athletes. They do this by teaching the concepts of sports physiology, sports psychology and sports nutrition all while ensuring the programs are fun and challenging for the participants. Doug created ELITEAM in 1991 with a desire to pass on his winning knowledge of world class sports to future generations. Prior to creating ELITEAM, Doug was a 2x Olympian and World Championship medalist in alpine skiing. After retiring from competitive ski racing, Doug found a new passion in endurance sport that provided a new avenue for him to push the limits of his mind and body. His accomplishments so far in this arena include completing multiple 100 mile ultramarathons and winning the first ever Spartan Death Race in 2007. In this interview, we discuss Doug’s time growing up in Vermont, his journey to becoming an Olympian, his ski racing career, ELITEAM, and his passion for endurance sport.

Timestamps

00:02:41 Growing up on the slopes of Vermont

00:05:14 Starting to compete in ski racing and why he focused on downhill

00:08:52 Overview of a downhill ski race

00:11:55 Were family and friends supportive of his Olympic dream?

00:14:00 How does someone train to become an Olympic downhill skier?

00:16:22 Breakthrough event in his ski racing career

00:17:43 His mindset on his journey to becoming an Olympian

00:20:21 His race routine

00:24:36 What it was like to compete in his first Olympics

00:26:28 Biggest takeaways from his first Olympics

00:27:48 His greatest accomplishment in ski racing

00:30:19 Low points in his ski racing career and how he overcame them

00:33:23 Biggest takeaways from his ski racing career

00:35:04 Retiring from ski racing

00:39:07 Why he started ELITEAM

00:41:12 Overview of ELITEAM

00:43:49 Example of an in-person camp

00:46:08 How he weaves the sports psychology aspect into his camps

00:48:30 What he enjoys most about running ELITEAM

00:50:13 What sparked his passion for endurance sport?

00:52:37 The first Spartan Death Race

00:59:13 His next big endurance challenge

01:00:36 Pivotal moments throughout his life that changed his perspective on human performance

01:03:15 What he wants to accomplish 5 years from now

01:04:19 His daily routine

01:05:32 His driving force

01:07:35 Parting words of wisdom for the athlete looking to get to the next level