September 3, 2025 • 35 mins
Life rarely follows our carefully constructed plans, as Olympic speed skater Cindy Klassen discovered when her dream of competing in women's hockey was derailed. What followed instead was an unexpected journey to Olympic glory in a sport she initially resisted trying, as she embraced the challenge, eventually breaking world records and winning six Olympic medals across the 2002 and 2006 Games in speed skating.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 2 (00:07):
Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast.
We are a community of leaderswith a network in over 350
cities around the world,dedicated to optimizing our
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This show is where we have achance to listen and engage with
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We love talking with leaders,so if you have any questions,
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let us know.
The best way to stay connectedin Canada is through our
(00:29):
newsletter at leaderimpactca oron social at Leader Impact, and
if you're listening from outsideof Canada, check out our
website at leaderimpactcom.
I'm your host, lisa Peters, andour guest today is Cindy Clausen
.
Cindy was born and raised inWinnipeg, manitoba, and grew up
playing a variety of sports.
However, it wasn't until shewas 18 that she discovered and
fell in love with speed skating.
In 2002, she qualified for theOlympic Games in Salt Lake City
(00:53):
and won a bronze medal in hervery first Olympic race.
Cindy went on to compete at the2006 Olympics in Torino, italy,
where she won five medals andwas given the tremendous honor
of being the flagbearer for theclosing ceremonies.
Cindy is grateful to God forall the opportunities he
provided her in sport and shegives all the credit to him.
Cindy and her husband have afive-year-old daughter and a
(01:13):
two-year-old son.
She is a stay-at-home mom andso thankful that God has blessed
her with such a wonderfulfamily.
Welcome to the show, cindy.
Thank you so much for having me.
You know so before we I've beentelling everybody like I'm
interviewing Cindy Clausen.
I'm super excited.
So then I, I, I deep, dived onyou and it says here you grew up
playing a variety of sports.
(01:34):
Let's just go back to that,because you didn't just play a
variety of sports, my dear you.
You competed for Canada in theinline skating in the 1999 Pan
Am Games.
You were a member of theCanada's National Junior Women's
Hockey Team in 1996.
And you competed for Canada atthe 1994 Commonwealth Games for
(01:55):
a member of the women's fieldlacrosse.
You just didn't grow up with avariety, wow.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah, yeah, I just love playing, playing sports.
I played as many sports as Icould get my hands on and it was
great.
My parents were so supportivewith that too, and so like
school sports as well, likebasketball, volleyball I just, I
just love playing sports.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Yeah, you were competitive, though, like you do
, you have older brothers or asold as me like what I'm actually
the oldest?
Speaker 1 (02:27):
um, but my dad was a drag racer, and so he was always
like very competitive and, um,yeah, he raced dragsters and he
loved hockey too, and so he gotus all into sports and was very
competitive all right.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Well, I'm excited to deep dive with you today.
So again, thanks for joining us.
It is an honor to have you, itis just an honor.
We love hearing about yourprofessional journey and how you
got from.
You know where you were andwhere you are today.
I'm wondering if you can giveus a couple snapshots of the
pivotal moments along thejourney.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Okay, well, like as we were talking about, I played
a bunch of different sports, butmy main sport when I was
growing up was hockey, and myparents found out when I was
pretty young that women's hockeywas going to be in the Olympics
for the very first time in 1998.
And they thought that would beperfect.
My dad loved hockey.
I really liked hockey, and mymom did too.
(03:24):
She just didn't.
She didn't play hockey, but mydad did, and so that quickly
became my dream in life to makeit to the Olympics in women's
hockey in 1998, because I wouldbe 18 at that time, and so it
seemed like the perfect age.
I'd probably be at the peak ofmy game, and so that was my
dream.
I thought that was God's planfor my life too, and when I was
(03:44):
younger, there just weren't manygirls playing hockey at the
time, so I ended up playing withthe boys, and I played with the
boys until I was 16 years oldand I was actually making the
top teams.
I made double, a, triple A inboys hockey until I was 16.
Then the guys were just gettingtoo big for me with the body
checking, and so I just couldn'tkeep up.
They're getting too big for me,like with the body checking and
(04:04):
um.
And so I just couldn't.
I couldn't keep up, likethey're just too big for me, um.
So then I ended up switching toa women's league because there
still still weren't enough girlsplaying hockey to have a league
like in my age bracket.
So I switched to a women's umleague and then in 1997, a year
before the 98 olympics, I got acall to go out to Calgary to try
(04:27):
out for the women's nationalteam and it was going to be a
tryout.
They're going to pick fiveplayers from across Canada to
come play with the team for afew months before the games and
then they could try to beat offlike one of the players on the
team to make it to the to be onthe Olympic team.
So I went to these tryouts inCalgary.
It was like a weekend oftryouts, felt like the tryouts
(04:47):
had gone really well, everythingwas going as planned.
And then when I got home Ifound out that I had been cut
from the team or I didn't makeone of those five spots, and I
was just devastated.
I was in grade 12 at the timeand I was kind of like, like
what am I going to do now, likeI thought this was, this was my,
like the trajectory of mysporting career was to go to the
(05:09):
Olympics in the next year.
Um, and so I I kind of after awhile I had realized like, hey,
well, I didn't make it this time, but maybe I can make it for
the 2002 Olympics.
I'll be four years older, maybeI'll get stronger at the sport.
Um, and so I went into my firstyear of university and I was
used to playing hockey, alongwith all the high school sports
(05:30):
like basketball, volleyball,badminton, stuff like that, and
now I only had hockey.
And so I needed something elseto fill my time.
And my parents were, like, whydon't you try speed skating?
And my first reaction was likeabsolutely not, because there
was no way I was going to put onone of those tight skin suits
and the long blades like theyjust look funny to me.
And they kept pushing me andlike they knew one of the
(05:51):
coaches at the speed skatingclub and they said like just
give it a try.
And I don't know if it was moreor less like just to get them
off my back or what, but I said,okay, I'll go to a practice and
try it.
And so I went to my firstpractice and I thought it would
be just like hockey, but faster,because the blades are so long.
But I was in for a hugesurprise because I stepped onto
(06:11):
the ice and the blades becausethey're longer, they're a lot
more awkward to use than ahockey skate and they're also a
lot narrower than a hockey bladeis.
And so there I was, 18 yearsold, struggling to make my way
around the ice surface, hopingthat I wasn't going to fall down
and like little five year oldkids are flying past me.
And so it was a very humblingexperience.
(06:31):
When I first started and myparents said I was pretty quiet
the first few times I came homefrom practice and they thought
for sure I was just going togive it up.
But you know, I kept going,practice after practice, and to
me it was like it was achallenge and I thought, like
you know, I want to see if I canget better at this sport.
And that very first year ofspeed skating I remember
watching the 98 Olympics on TVand I saw our Canadian speed
(06:54):
skating team do so well.
Katrina LeMay, don, won gold inthe 500.
And then Susan Ock, who's fromWinnipeg, she won silver in that
same race and I was just soinspired by them and it was
through watching them and justenjoying that challenge of
skating that a new dream wasplanted in my heart of trying to
qualify for the Olympics inspeed skating Wow.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
You know, I think I have another friend that was a
basketball player and never madethe university team and the
volleyball coach came out andsaid come play for us.
And she ended up playing forthe national team, like that's
grade 12.
She never played volleyball butthe coach was like well, hey,
come on over here.
And isn't that amazing stories?
Just you know.
But yours is you're still onice, even though the skates are
(07:43):
different.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Yeah, yeah.
So, like being on ice, I thinkthat that helped a lot and but I
just I had no idea that, likeGod had a completely different
plan for my life then and and soI just pursued that and and
things went really well.
You asked for a couple ofpoints.
I don't know if you want, andso this is like later way later
(08:06):
on.
Um, after my speed skatingcareer was like coming to the
end.
I was hoping to qualify for the2014 Olympics in Sochi in
Russia, and the summer before umwe would have our Olympic
trials.
We were out in line skating andum doing a practice and I and I
ended up falling.
Somehow.
I hit my head on the pavement.
(08:27):
I mean, I had helmet on, but Ihit it so hard that I didn't.
I ended up getting a concussionand that kind of took me out
and I tried to get into it to beable to try out for those games
, but it just I just couldn'tget, like I was just having
headaches and I was just havinga hard time getting back into
training and so because of that,I like I'm getting to the end
of my career.
It's time to start thinkingabout what I'm going to do
(08:48):
afterwards.
And so I ended up going back toschool, like to finish my degree
, which I had started years ago,like back after I finished high
school.
I went back to school again andthen during that time there was
(09:10):
a recruiting officer from theCalgary Police service that was
doing an info session at thesports center and thought, like
you know, I actually, since Iwas a little kid, I always
wanted to be a police officer,but now I was I think I was
about 35 at the time and Ithought, well, I'm way too old
to apply, but it would just beneat to see what they do like,
what it is in a life of a policeofficer is like.
So I went to the info sessionand he's like you're not, you're
not too old, you can apply.
Why don't you go for a ridealong and see what you think?
And so I went for my first ridealong, actually went for a
(09:31):
couple of them, and then Iapplied.
And then it wasn't too longbefore, um, I ended up becoming
a and uh.
And then I ended up meeting myhusband through that.
And so, um, I don't know if Iwould have kept skating.
Who knows if I would have methim through that and, uh cause,
he was a police officer as well.
And now we have two kids andI'm a stay at home mom.
(09:54):
I ended up after we had ourfirst.
Um, we realized like I wantedto be there with them and I
didn't want to be working, andso, um, grateful to God that I
can be at home with them and wehave a five-year-old and
two-year-old and it's such ablessing.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Wow, did your mom stay home with you?
She did, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
And I'm so grateful for that.
Like it was just, it was soawesome.
Like we even like going toschool, we live.
We walked to our school, ourelementary school, so we could
come home for lunch in between.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
She was always there, and so I'm so grateful that I
can do that for our kids as well.
Yeah, I became a stay at homemom, but they moved out, so I
think I'm done work.
You guys are leaving now.
Okay, we talked about our bestprinciples of success, and I'm
wondering if you can share one,if you have a story to
illustrate that as well.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Well, I mean I think it's something that my parents
always kind of instilled in usas we were growing up.
I mean there's the Bible verse,colossians 3.23, like whatever
you do, work at it with all yourheart, as though working for
the Lord and not for man, andthey always wanted us to do our
best in everything that we did,whatever it was.
And I mean my parents, I meanthey were great role models for
(11:11):
us in the way that they workwith all of their heart and
everything they did.
But I do have a story it's moreof a fun story but I just
remember when I was younger Ithink I was in about I was about
grade six, maybe about 11 or 12years old, and my parents have
a cottage and so we go out toour cottage for the summers and
spend most of the time there.
And my best friend had come outfor a visit and I remember
(11:34):
seeing there was like a posterat the local store and it said
there's going to be a mountainbike race on the trails at the
cottage, like by our cottage,and I thought, wow, I had never
seen a mountain bike race.
It'd be so cool to go watchthis race.
And so my friend and I.
The morning of the big race wegot on our bikes and we're kind
of like racing each other up anddown the hills pretending like
we're in a race of our own, andafter we had done that for a
(11:57):
while probably just like tiringourselves out we thought, hey,
you know what, we're pretty goodat this Like why don't we enter
the race?
And the first problem was thatmy friend was on a BMX bike and
I was on.
It was kind of we called it abeach bike at the time.
It's kind of like a cruiser, soit's basically a single speed
bike.
You push it back to brakeinstead of like the handle
brakes, but there's no gears, um, and then, so that was the
(12:20):
first issue.
And then also, um, we didn'thave helmets and helmets were
mandatory to race, and so wecame up with the bright idea
that we would just use my dad'ssnowmobile helmets, not thinking
that they'd be kind of bulkyand probably pretty hot, like in
the 30 degree weather inManitoba.
But we told my parents andthey're like, yeah, let's do it.
(12:40):
And so my dad loaded up ourbikes into the back of his
pickup truck and then we headedoff to the races and I think we
probably raised a few eyebrowsat unloading our bikes with
their snowmobile helmets in hand, and but, fortunately for us,
there was a couple people wholent us their bike helmets, so
we were okay with that.
But then we um lined up on thestart line with other racers
(13:00):
around the same age as us and Iremember, um, the starter said
to us like it's a hot day, it'sa really long trail like our
race course, make sure you paceyourself.
And I'm like, oh, that's a goodidea.
We didn't even have waterbottle holders on our bikes so
we didn't have anything to drinkwhile we were racing.
But while we were on the lineand ready to go, my dad came up
(13:22):
to me and whispered in my earand he said as soon as the gun
sounds, go as hard as you canand don't stop the entire race.
And then that's what I did Ijust took off and I didn't slow
down and I just went so hard andI remember like my legs are
burning, my lungs were screamingat me and it was a super hard
race and it was very hot out andthere's a kid that was kind of
(13:42):
on my tail for about half therace and he ended up passing me,
but I was able to hold on tosecond place and when I finished
the, when I crossed the finishline, I just remember being so
exhausted and so thirsty.
I'd never been so thirsty in mylife but I was just, uh, it was
just kind of like a moment oflike yeah, I gave it my all, I
did my best and I was just so,um, excited about finishing that
(14:05):
race and and even to get secondplace and so, um, so, just that
value of like working yourhardest, and that's something
that my parents always instilledin us.
And also, if you think about ifyou're doing it with all of
your heart for God, it takes offthat pressure of that you're
not doing it for man, you don'thave to do it for, like, any
accolades or any position oranything like that.
(14:27):
You're doing it for God, and Ithink that really helps to give
you that extra boost and alsojust takes that pressure off
that it's all for him and allfor his glory.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, I love your story.
I think of there was nothinggetting in your way.
You know when I think of evenin the work world.
Right, we need the perfecttools, we need the right tools
to do this job.
And you're like I got asnowmobile helmet.
I got a bike that I've got tobreak backwards it didn't matter
Like it's a bike.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Yeah, exactly, I know , sometimes those things can
hold us back and, and I think,having that belief in yourself
and enjoying the process toobecause I know it was hard but
it was a lot of fun, and I thinkthat when you but it was a lot
of fun and I think that when youbring that, enjoyment into it.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Um, it can just take you to places you never imagined
.
Yeah, I once uh went runningand it was, uh, my friends are
running in a half marathon and Iwent oh, I was going to bike
beside them.
So I didn't have anyundergarments on, like I didn't
have a bra on, I was just gonnabike and someone was like you
should run.
I'm like, why wouldn't I?
So I never ran more than 10kilometers and here I'm running
20 and I ran it in an hour and55, which isn't great, but still
(15:42):
pretty good.
Lucky I had runners on.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
But yeah, have you gone on to do any other races?
Well, I ran a marathon.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
You did Good for you so.
I don't run anymore, but I walkthe dog, okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Yeah, that's something my sister and I would
love to do one day is run race amarathon.
Oh, I thought you were going tosay walk the dog.
Oh, yeah, that too.
Run a marathon, okay.
Run a marathon, okay.
Um, I just feel like I alwaysget injured every time I try to
train for it.
But maybe one day, maybe.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
I'll walk it.
You need a training programbecause I can see you just
thinking you should go out andrun 15k one day and it's like
you're gonna start a littleslower and build up.
This is my advice.
Talking about that, well, weobviously learn more.
We know that we learn more fromour failures, our failings and
our mistakes than our ownsuccesses, and I'm wondering if
you would share one of yourgreatest failings or mistakes
(16:38):
and what you learned from itwell, this might not sound so
much like a failure in my eyes.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
It kind of was.
At first, I remember going intothe 2006 Olympics it was a big
year, or that season was a bigyear, and I ended up breaking a
couple of world records beforewe went to the Olympics.
Everything seemed to be kind oflike falling into place.
It seemed like I was having thebest season of my life and I
had those world records in the1500 and the 3000.
(17:08):
And the 1500 meters seemed tobe like my top distance, but it
was more.
I was kind of like a middledistance skater, um, and so we
went um to our final world cupbefore the Olympics in Torino.
And this world cup was actuallybeing held in Torino, so it was
kind of neat because we hadnever been there before, um, or
we had never skated on that icesurface before.
(17:29):
And, um, I and my coach and Idecided you know what, why don't
we treat this like we're goingto the Olympics right now?
So it's kind of like just apractice round before we
actually get there.
And so I mean the plan was,when we got to the Games, that
we'd treat every distanceindividually Like.
Once I finished that race, I'dput it behind me and get ready
(17:50):
for the next race and just focuson one race at a time, because
I was potentially going to beracing five distances at the
Olympics.
And so we went to this WorldCup and it was only three
distances at this World Cup thatI'd be racing, just the way it
was set up and we went into it.
Everything the prep, everythingwas the same as the Olympics.
And my very first race was a1500 meter, which is my top
(18:21):
distance, I would say at thetime.
And I went into it and my topcompetitor, who she had won gold
at the last Olympics in the1500 meter, she ended up beating
me.
We weren't paired togetherbecause you have individual
pairs and then they take thefastest time at the end of the
day and they have like first,second, third, fourth, all the
way down to the last racer.
Um, so we weren't pairedtogether, but she ended up
beating me and I went into thatrace and I felt like I had given
it everything, like I hadn't.
(18:42):
There was nothing that we couldchange.
Like we, I raced it perfectly.
It wasn't like I had a misstepor maybe I started off too fast
or anything like that, and um,or maybe I started off too fast
or anything like that, and sheended up beating me.
And it was kind of like, afterthat race, I remember driving
home or going back to the hotelwith my coach at that time and
just kind of like being kind ofstumped, like what could I have
(19:03):
done better?
Like she beat me and I can't doany better than that and I had
to like come to the realizationthat, like you know what it's,
it was her day and she she beatme that day and I did the best
that I could and that's all Icould do.
I couldn't have done any betterand I need to be satisfied with
that and happy with how I didrace.
And so I was able to put thatbehind me and I went into the
(19:26):
next day I think it was maybethe 3000 meter, another one of
my top races and she beat meagain and we weren't paired
together, but she beat me againand again I felt like I put the
perfect race together.
But after that race I wasn't.
I didn't have the same feelingsanymore as that feeling of like
, oh no, like what?
The like I was hoping to winthe race, but I didn't.
(19:47):
But I was still.
I had that feeling ofsatisfaction that I had done my
best and I actually felt goodabout this race, even though she
beat me again.
And then the next day was thethousand meter, which I also was
one of my, a good race for meand I was expected to do well.
And she beat me again in thatrace.
And so she beat me.
She won gold in every race inthat world cup and I won silver
(20:09):
in every race in that world cup.
Um, we were never pairedtogether, but, um, she ended up
being faster than me and I hadto think like, hey, well, this
could be, this could be whathappens at the Olympics.
I need to be prepared foranything.
And so we went to the Olympicsa couple of months down the road
I raced the 3000 meter.
She didn't even win a medal atthose games or in that, in that
(20:32):
race, um, but I ended up gettingbronze.
But I did my best in that raceand I was happy with the bronze.
And then I went into.
I had two other races I thinkit was the team pursuit and the
1000 meter and I won silver inthose metal in those races.
And then I was getting to the1500 meter, and this was
basically my last like.
(20:53):
I had a 5000 meter race afterthat as well, but I wasn't as
strong in the 5000 meter.
I wasn't expected to do as well.
But the 1500 meter, this was myrace, and if I was ever going
to win gold in a race like thiswould probably be it.
And this was kind of like mylast chance.
And so the morning of that raceI found out who my pair was, and
it was this girl and her nameis Annie Freezinger, from
(21:15):
Germany.
Um, and I was paired with herand I just remember thinking,
like this is awesome, like thisis, we hadn't been paired
together for the last couple ofyears and so, um, so I think
normally I'd probably be kind ofnervous going into this race
against her, um, but I was justexcited.
I'm like, yeah, like this isgoing to be fun.
We're racing against each other.
She's an amazing athlete and Ithink it's going to be a really
(21:38):
good race.
And there's just like a lot ofthings that ended up happening
that day that were were prettyneat to like.
I remember going to the ovalthat day.
We usually go on the ice acouple of hours before a race
just to get a feel for the ice.
And I remember them, um, theyhad opened the doors to the
spectators and all these peoplecame in and I saw this kid come
running in and he was waving aCanadian flag.
(22:01):
And I thought to myself, beforeI get off the ice, um, to get
off and get ready for my race,I'm going to go over and talk to
this kid.
And so, um, I finishedeverything I needed to do on the
ice and I went over to thecorner and and I kind of like
motion for him to come down, andhe showed me his flag and he
had like a bunch of signaturesfrom Canadian athletes and him
(22:21):
and his dad had come out fromToronto to come watch the
Olympics.
And and I just remember justbeing so inspired by this kid,
like I thought like this is so,so cool.
He came all the way here towatch the Olympics and I want to
go out and just show him howmuch fun the sport of speed
skating is.
And so I went into that race andjust felt like just had so much
(22:42):
fun, just so much joy racing.
And I got to race against Annie, who is like just a tremendous
competitor, and I had the racein my life and I ended up coming
out of that race with a goldmedal and it was just um, it was
just amazing to be able tostand on the podium to sing O
Canada.
My, my teammate won silverChristina Gross, she got silver
(23:03):
in that race.
We got to sing O Canadatogether and and then, after I
got my flowers, um, on thepodium, I went over to the side
to where that kid was kind of inthe stands and I could see him
up like a ways up and I kind ofpointed at him and and I threw
the flowers into the crowd andthe crowd actually passed it
back and handed it back to him,and so it was a pretty neat
(23:24):
moment.
And, to top it off, years later,during the 2014 Olympics, I was
in Toronto at the time justvisiting a friend.
He reached out to me somehow.
I don't know how he got aholdof me, but he asked if I would
be able to meet up with him andhis and his parents, and so we
met up.
We had a coffee and he stillhad those flowers that he had
brought them home and dried them, and he had that same flag that
(23:48):
I had signed it for him, but hehad.
It was just full of Canadianathletes that had signed the
flag and it was just really neatjust thinking like he was such
an inspiration for me that day,and I hope that I was a little
bit of an inspiration for him aswell.
But but yeah, just like goingback, like that race in Torino
(24:09):
in the world cup, at thebeginning it just kind of at
first it just felt like, oh no,like I, I didn't, I didn't do
what I had hoped to accomplish,but just being satisfied that I
had given my best and that's allI could do, and and to be happy
with that moment and and itturned out.
It was crazy because AnnieFriesinger, she didn't she ended
(24:29):
up winning gold in the teampursuit, but she didn't win
individual medal at all duringthose Olympics and so which was
very surprising because she'sjust like such a formidable
athlete and and so you justnever know what's going to
happen the day of.
But if you give your best, thenthat's, you can be proud of
that and and whatever, whereveryou end up, just being proud of
(24:51):
doing your best yeah, I justcame across a saying yesterday
and it applies.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
it's by maya angelou I never lose.
I either win or learn.
Oh, that is so good.
I remember losing.
I ran for politics and I lostand I remember saying that, like
, this has been the greatestexperience.
So you know, win or lose, Ilearned a lot, I gained a lot,
and it's winning like losingsucks.
(25:17):
I totally.
Yes, it does, but I just keptsaying like it was the best
experience.
And what can I learn?
Speaker 1 (25:23):
from it.
Yeah, yeah, exactly Like everytime.
I mean every moment that youhave, whether it's a setback or
a success.
I mean you can learn from thoseopportunities and I think the
most growth that we have is whenwe do have those failures or we
do have those setbacks.
I think we grow the most out ofthose.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Yeah, I think when, when you had lost at the um
world cup leading up to um, yourcoach, the the language that
came from your coach was it's,you know, was it very similar to
yours, and that you know we didour best.
We're going to come outtomorrow and do it again and you
know cause we think of thepeople that we surround
ourselves with, right.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Yeah, yeah, he was absolutely.
He was so encouraging and andwe also had to think about, okay
, tomorrow we're planning, we'regoing through this like it is
the Olympics and so we have tostick to our plan and just focus
on tomorrow's race and that'sall we can do and get ready for
that.
And so, yeah, he was veryencouraging and just a
tremendous coach, so helpful andI learned a ton from him.
(26:25):
Yeah, great.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Our next question is at Leader Impact.
We want to go growprofessionally, spiritually and
personally to increase impact.
So would you be willing toshare an example of how the
spiritual makes, which you sortof have been how the spiritual
makes a practical difference inyour life as a leader?
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Yeah, I mean, I think that, um, I mean the spiritual
is, is everything that's, uh,that I'm, I'm living for, like
living my faith is what, whatgrounds me?
And um, I think that for me,just thinking about how this
life is, just this, is justtemporary.
We have such a short life, um,and living in in light of
(27:06):
eternity and um, when I look atmy, the medals that I've won
have actually have been a greatexample for me, because when I
take them to school visits and Ilet the kids try them on and
and they get to hand them aroundand stuff like that, I've
noticed that, like the ribbonsaren't as crisp as they once
were, there's some dings in themetals because they've been
(27:27):
dropped and the gold metal isactually like pretty tarnished,
it's actually getting rusty.
And it's such a great reminderto me of that verse in Matthew,
chapter six, verses 19 to 21.
And it says do not store up foryourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy andwhere thieves break in and steal
, but store up for yourselvestreasures in heaven, where moth
(27:48):
and rust do not destroy andthieves do not break in and
steal, for where your treasureis there, your heart will be
also, and so it's such a greatreminder to me that all of these
things, these things aretemporary, like even the metals
that I've won.
Those are rusting, they'refading.
But everything that we do inour life and we do it for God,
that's the most important thingand I just, yeah, I just think
(28:08):
about how the life that we'reliving it's so short and just
trying to use every opportunitythat I can to live it to glorify
God and for his kingdompurposes, and so just bringing
that into everyday life, like asI raise my kids, as, um, I just
go from day to day, just tryingto be a light and and use every
(28:31):
opportunity for his glory, yeah, and those little eyes, your
children.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
They're watching you, you know, and I think of how I
was raised, or how you wereraised, and we're watching our
parents and we want to be likethem, you know?
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Um, yes, yes, totally , I know, and and and that's.
It's scary too, because I justthink like I mean, I know I
mistake, I make mistakes all thetime, I make mistakes daily,
and but having that forgivenessfrom God and also asking them
for forgiveness when I've mademistakes and stuff like that,
but but yeah, I just remember asa kid like just always like
(29:05):
looking up to my parents, topeople who were older than me,
like coaches or athletes oranything like that.
You're always like looking upto people, and so I'm just
trying to be the best examplethat I can be as Christlike as I
can to my kids.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Yeah, good Leader Impact is dedicated to leaders
having a lasting impact.
So, as you continue to movethrough your own journey in life
, I'm wondering if you'veconsidered what you want your
faith legacy to be when youleave this world.
That's a hard one.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
And I just don't like the word legacy so much because
I just like, after I'm gone,like no one's going to remember
me, nobody's going to care, likeit doesn't.
It's like that's gonna rememberme, nobody's gonna care.
Like it doesn't, like that'snot really.
That's not my priority, I guess, but it.
But then, coming back to mykids, I mean a faith legacy.
I just hope that I can instillmy faith in them and my prayer
is just that they will come toknow Christ and that, um,
(30:00):
they'll live their lives, um,looking to him and everything
they do and so, um, yeah, so forright now, I mean it's mostly
my kids.
That's what I kind of have myeyes on, just trying to to be a
good example for them and andyeah, and then also just I hope
that somehow in my interactionslike with whether it was through
(30:23):
sports or just now in day today life, that my life will just
point people to Christ.
And yeah, I guess that's whatit would be.
But but when I think of of lifelike it's just so, it's like a
vapor, right, and and we'regoing to be forgotten.
I mean, I don't even rememberwho the other people like at the
(30:45):
Olympic Games, like who wonwhat, or anything like that, and
everything's gonna be forgotten.
So I guess, um, uh, yeah, justtrying to live my life as
Christ-like as possible.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Well, um, you are like in the record book, so just
saying your name, right, likepeople will remember you.
It's it, um, and I just thinkof we're going to be meeting in
um a little bit for a for aconference which I'm going to be
moderating, a panel, and you'regoing to be on the panel and
we're talking about definingyour legacy, and it made me
(31:17):
really think that you know, whatam I doing to make happen?
You know like we have to makelife happen.
I know God has control of ourlives, but what am I doing to?
What are the opportunities thatGod are putting in front of me
that I'm grabbing?
And how are people going toremember me?
Like, what am I doing versusletting life happen to me?
Right, like just sitting backand going, whatever?
(31:38):
You know, I'm excited for thatconversation That'll be October
2nd.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Yes, I'm excited for that too.
That's going to be a lot of fun.
Excited to meet you.
You too.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
All right, well, my last question is what brings you
the greatest joy?
Speaker 1 (31:53):
The greatest joy.
You know, it's funny becausewhen I was younger I was just so
focused on sports Like Ithought eventually I'd probably
get married and have kids, butit wasn't really.
You know how.
I mean mean my daughter, shejust loves babies and she loves
like taking care of little kidsand I know that she's gonna just
be so excited to be a mom oneday, whereas for me I just I was
(32:14):
so focused on sports.
I just didn't really I didn'thave that in me.
But then once we did have kids,that was I just can't believe
the change that has come aboutme, where they bring me the
greatest joy.
Just being around them, seeingthem learn things, watching them
play sports or just seeing themhave joy in whatever they're
(32:35):
doing.
That brings me the greatest joyand I never in a million years
knew that I could feel like this.
But yeah, it's, my kids justreally bring me the greatest joy
and I'm just so grateful to Godfor them.
And my husband and I met laterin life and so our first was I
was 40 when she was born and ourson I think I was about 42.
(32:56):
And I wish we could havestarted earlier because I would
have loved to have a biggerfamily, because I just, yeah,
kids are just such a blessing,but I'm so grateful for them and
, yeah, they bring me the mostjoy, for sure.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Yeah, I remember being eight months pregnant and
I had a baby shower for anotherfriend of mine and I was like I
don't want to hold your baby, Idon't want to hold anybody's
baby.
And I was like you, I'm like Idon't even know why I'm having a
baby, but when my baby came, Iwas.
I was mama bear air, don'ttouch my baby, this is my baby.
(33:31):
I just had this complete change.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Are your children involved in sports?
Yeah, we well.
So my youngest isn't really oldenough to play sports yet, but
our five year old she got intotennis and the reason why I put
her in tennis was whenever myfamily, when I was younger, when
we would go on vacation, wealways ended up playing tennis,
and I just love the sport.
It was so much fun, and so weput her in tennis and she's
(33:53):
really enjoying it.
She's doing that right now, andthen, um, skating lessons.
I'm not sure maybe she'll playa little bit of hockey, I I
don't know right now, but uh,just getting her to experience
different sports, see what shelikes and uh, and who knows,
maybe she'll end up wanting tobe a musician or something, but
right now she loves sports andso I'll just keep at it.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Well, that's awesome.
Well done, Well done, Mama.
I want to thank you for justjoining us and just sharing some
time with us.
It's been a pleasure.
If anyone wants to reach out toyou, reach out to you, find you
.
Where's the best place to findyou?
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Oh, I'm horrible with social media.
I am on Twitter but I'm notactive on it.
But I guess there Twitter, doyou have a website?
I do have a website, socindyclaussencom or CA I think
both work, so I don't know.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
Yeah Well, thank you again, Cindy, for joining us.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
No, thank you so much for having me, lisa.
It was just an honor to be apart of your podcast and thanks
for having me.
All right, thank you.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
All right.
Well, if you're part of LeaderImpact, you can always discuss
or share this podcast with yourgroup.
And if you're not yet part ofLeader Impact and would like to
find out more and grow yourleadership, find our podcast
page on our website atleaderimpactca.
You can also check out ourgroups available in Canada at
leaderimpactca or, if you'relistening from anywhere else in
Canada, check outleaderimpactcom or get in touch
with us by email.
Info at leaderimpactca and wewill connect you.
(35:23):
And if you like this podcast,please leave us a comment, give
us a rating or review.
This will help other globalleaders find our podcast.
Thank you for engaging with usand remember impact starts with
you.
Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast.
We are a community of leaderswith a network in over 350
cities around the world,dedicated to optimizing our
personal, professional andspiritual lives to have impact.
This show is where we have achance to listen and engage with
leaders who are living this out.
We love talking with leaders,so if you have any questions,
comments or suggestions to makethis show even better, please
let us know.
The best way to stay connectedin Canada is through our
(00:29):
newsletter at leaderimpactca oron social at Leader Impact, and
if you're listening from outsideof Canada, check out our
website at leaderimpactcom.
I'm your host, lisa Peters, andour guest today is Cindy Clausen
.
Cindy was born and raised inWinnipeg, manitoba, and grew up
playing a variety of sports.
However, it wasn't until shewas 18 that she discovered and
fell in love with speed skating.
In 2002, she qualified for theOlympic Games in Salt Lake City
(00:53):
and won a bronze medal in hervery first Olympic race.
Cindy went on to compete at the2006 Olympics in Torino, italy,
where she won five medals andwas given the tremendous honor
of being the flagbearer for theclosing ceremonies.
Cindy is grateful to God forall the opportunities he
provided her in sport and shegives all the credit to him.
Cindy and her husband have afive-year-old daughter and a
(01:13):
two-year-old son.
She is a stay-at-home mom andso thankful that God has blessed
her with such a wonderfulfamily.
Welcome to the show, cindy.
Thank you so much for having me.
You know so before we I've beentelling everybody like I'm
interviewing Cindy Clausen.
I'm super excited.
So then I, I, I deep, dived onyou and it says here you grew up
playing a variety of sports.
(01:34):
Let's just go back to that,because you didn't just play a
variety of sports, my dear you.
You competed for Canada in theinline skating in the 1999 Pan
Am Games.
You were a member of theCanada's National Junior Women's
Hockey Team in 1996.
And you competed for Canada atthe 1994 Commonwealth Games for
(01:55):
a member of the women's fieldlacrosse.
You just didn't grow up with avariety, wow.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah, yeah, I just love playing, playing sports.
I played as many sports as Icould get my hands on and it was
great.
My parents were so supportivewith that too, and so like
school sports as well, likebasketball, volleyball I just, I
just love playing sports.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Yeah, you were competitive, though, like you do
, you have older brothers or asold as me like what I'm actually
the oldest?
Speaker 1 (02:27):
um, but my dad was a drag racer, and so he was always
like very competitive and, um,yeah, he raced dragsters and he
loved hockey too, and so he gotus all into sports and was very
competitive all right.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Well, I'm excited to deep dive with you today.
So again, thanks for joining us.
It is an honor to have you, itis just an honor.
We love hearing about yourprofessional journey and how you
got from.
You know where you were andwhere you are today.
I'm wondering if you can giveus a couple snapshots of the
pivotal moments along thejourney.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Okay, well, like as we were talking about, I played
a bunch of different sports, butmy main sport when I was
growing up was hockey, and myparents found out when I was
pretty young that women's hockeywas going to be in the Olympics
for the very first time in 1998.
And they thought that would beperfect.
My dad loved hockey.
I really liked hockey, and mymom did too.
(03:24):
She just didn't.
She didn't play hockey, but mydad did, and so that quickly
became my dream in life to makeit to the Olympics in women's
hockey in 1998, because I wouldbe 18 at that time, and so it
seemed like the perfect age.
I'd probably be at the peak ofmy game, and so that was my
dream.
I thought that was God's planfor my life too, and when I was
(03:44):
younger, there just weren't manygirls playing hockey at the
time, so I ended up playing withthe boys, and I played with the
boys until I was 16 years oldand I was actually making the
top teams.
I made double, a, triple A inboys hockey until I was 16.
Then the guys were just gettingtoo big for me with the body
checking, and so I just couldn'tkeep up.
They're getting too big for me,like with the body checking and
(04:04):
um.
And so I just couldn't.
I couldn't keep up, likethey're just too big for me, um.
So then I ended up switching toa women's league because there
still still weren't enough girlsplaying hockey to have a league
like in my age bracket.
So I switched to a women's umleague and then in 1997, a year
before the 98 olympics, I got acall to go out to Calgary to try
(04:27):
out for the women's nationalteam and it was going to be a
tryout.
They're going to pick fiveplayers from across Canada to
come play with the team for afew months before the games and
then they could try to beat offlike one of the players on the
team to make it to the to be onthe Olympic team.
So I went to these tryouts inCalgary.
It was like a weekend oftryouts, felt like the tryouts
(04:47):
had gone really well, everythingwas going as planned.
And then when I got home Ifound out that I had been cut
from the team or I didn't makeone of those five spots, and I
was just devastated.
I was in grade 12 at the timeand I was kind of like, like
what am I going to do now, likeI thought this was, this was my,
like the trajectory of mysporting career was to go to the
(05:09):
Olympics in the next year.
Um, and so I I kind of after awhile I had realized like, hey,
well, I didn't make it this time, but maybe I can make it for
the 2002 Olympics.
I'll be four years older, maybeI'll get stronger at the sport.
Um, and so I went into my firstyear of university and I was
used to playing hockey, alongwith all the high school sports
(05:30):
like basketball, volleyball,badminton, stuff like that, and
now I only had hockey.
And so I needed something elseto fill my time.
And my parents were, like, whydon't you try speed skating?
And my first reaction was likeabsolutely not, because there
was no way I was going to put onone of those tight skin suits
and the long blades like theyjust look funny to me.
And they kept pushing me andlike they knew one of the
(05:51):
coaches at the speed skatingclub and they said like just
give it a try.
And I don't know if it was moreor less like just to get them
off my back or what, but I said,okay, I'll go to a practice and
try it.
And so I went to my firstpractice and I thought it would
be just like hockey, but faster,because the blades are so long.
But I was in for a hugesurprise because I stepped onto
(06:11):
the ice and the blades becausethey're longer, they're a lot
more awkward to use than ahockey skate and they're also a
lot narrower than a hockey bladeis.
And so there I was, 18 yearsold, struggling to make my way
around the ice surface, hopingthat I wasn't going to fall down
and like little five year oldkids are flying past me.
And so it was a very humblingexperience.
(06:31):
When I first started and myparents said I was pretty quiet
the first few times I came homefrom practice and they thought
for sure I was just going togive it up.
But you know, I kept going,practice after practice, and to
me it was like it was achallenge and I thought, like
you know, I want to see if I canget better at this sport.
And that very first year ofspeed skating I remember
watching the 98 Olympics on TVand I saw our Canadian speed
(06:54):
skating team do so well.
Katrina LeMay, don, won gold inthe 500.
And then Susan Ock, who's fromWinnipeg, she won silver in that
same race and I was just soinspired by them and it was
through watching them and justenjoying that challenge of
skating that a new dream wasplanted in my heart of trying to
qualify for the Olympics inspeed skating Wow.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
You know, I think I have another friend that was a
basketball player and never madethe university team and the
volleyball coach came out andsaid come play for us.
And she ended up playing forthe national team, like that's
grade 12.
She never played volleyball butthe coach was like well, hey,
come on over here.
And isn't that amazing stories?
Just you know.
But yours is you're still onice, even though the skates are
(07:43):
different.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Yeah, yeah.
So, like being on ice, I thinkthat that helped a lot and but I
just I had no idea that, likeGod had a completely different
plan for my life then and and soI just pursued that and and
things went really well.
You asked for a couple ofpoints.
I don't know if you want, andso this is like later way later
(08:06):
on.
Um, after my speed skatingcareer was like coming to the
end.
I was hoping to qualify for the2014 Olympics in Sochi in
Russia, and the summer before umwe would have our Olympic
trials.
We were out in line skating andum doing a practice and I and I
ended up falling.
Somehow.
I hit my head on the pavement.
(08:27):
I mean, I had helmet on, but Ihit it so hard that I didn't.
I ended up getting a concussionand that kind of took me out
and I tried to get into it to beable to try out for those games
, but it just I just couldn'tget, like I was just having
headaches and I was just havinga hard time getting back into
training and so because of that,I like I'm getting to the end
of my career.
It's time to start thinkingabout what I'm going to do
(08:48):
afterwards.
And so I ended up going back toschool, like to finish my degree
, which I had started years ago,like back after I finished high
school.
I went back to school again andthen during that time there was
(09:10):
a recruiting officer from theCalgary Police service that was
doing an info session at thesports center and thought, like
you know, I actually, since Iwas a little kid, I always
wanted to be a police officer,but now I was I think I was
about 35 at the time and Ithought, well, I'm way too old
to apply, but it would just beneat to see what they do like,
what it is in a life of a policeofficer is like.
So I went to the info sessionand he's like you're not, you're
not too old, you can apply.
Why don't you go for a ridealong and see what you think?
And so I went for my first ridealong, actually went for a
(09:31):
couple of them, and then Iapplied.
And then it wasn't too longbefore, um, I ended up becoming
a and uh.
And then I ended up meeting myhusband through that.
And so, um, I don't know if Iwould have kept skating.
Who knows if I would have methim through that and, uh cause,
he was a police officer as well.
And now we have two kids andI'm a stay at home mom.
(09:54):
I ended up after we had ourfirst.
Um, we realized like I wantedto be there with them and I
didn't want to be working, andso, um, grateful to God that I
can be at home with them and wehave a five-year-old and
two-year-old and it's such ablessing.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Wow, did your mom stay home with you?
She did, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
And I'm so grateful for that.
Like it was just, it was soawesome.
Like we even like going toschool, we live.
We walked to our school, ourelementary school, so we could
come home for lunch in between.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
She was always there, and so I'm so grateful that I
can do that for our kids as well.
Yeah, I became a stay at homemom, but they moved out, so I
think I'm done work.
You guys are leaving now.
Okay, we talked about our bestprinciples of success, and I'm
wondering if you can share one,if you have a story to
illustrate that as well.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Well, I mean I think it's something that my parents
always kind of instilled in usas we were growing up.
I mean there's the Bible verse,colossians 3.23, like whatever
you do, work at it with all yourheart, as though working for
the Lord and not for man, andthey always wanted us to do our
best in everything that we did,whatever it was.
And I mean my parents, I meanthey were great role models for
(11:11):
us in the way that they workwith all of their heart and
everything they did.
But I do have a story it's moreof a fun story but I just
remember when I was younger Ithink I was in about I was about
grade six, maybe about 11 or 12years old, and my parents have
a cottage and so we go out toour cottage for the summers and
spend most of the time there.
And my best friend had come outfor a visit and I remember
(11:34):
seeing there was like a posterat the local store and it said
there's going to be a mountainbike race on the trails at the
cottage, like by our cottage,and I thought, wow, I had never
seen a mountain bike race.
It'd be so cool to go watchthis race.
And so my friend and I.
The morning of the big race wegot on our bikes and we're kind
of like racing each other up anddown the hills pretending like
we're in a race of our own, andafter we had done that for a
(11:57):
while probably just like tiringourselves out we thought, hey,
you know what, we're pretty goodat this Like why don't we enter
the race?
And the first problem was thatmy friend was on a BMX bike and
I was on.
It was kind of we called it abeach bike at the time.
It's kind of like a cruiser, soit's basically a single speed
bike.
You push it back to brakeinstead of like the handle
brakes, but there's no gears, um, and then, so that was the
(12:20):
first issue.
And then also, um, we didn'thave helmets and helmets were
mandatory to race, and so wecame up with the bright idea
that we would just use my dad'ssnowmobile helmets, not thinking
that they'd be kind of bulkyand probably pretty hot, like in
the 30 degree weather inManitoba.
But we told my parents andthey're like, yeah, let's do it.
(12:40):
And so my dad loaded up ourbikes into the back of his
pickup truck and then we headedoff to the races and I think we
probably raised a few eyebrowsat unloading our bikes with
their snowmobile helmets in hand, and but, fortunately for us,
there was a couple people wholent us their bike helmets, so
we were okay with that.
But then we um lined up on thestart line with other racers
(13:00):
around the same age as us and Iremember, um, the starter said
to us like it's a hot day, it'sa really long trail like our
race course, make sure you paceyourself.
And I'm like, oh, that's a goodidea.
We didn't even have waterbottle holders on our bikes so
we didn't have anything to drinkwhile we were racing.
But while we were on the lineand ready to go, my dad came up
(13:22):
to me and whispered in my earand he said as soon as the gun
sounds, go as hard as you canand don't stop the entire race.
And then that's what I did Ijust took off and I didn't slow
down and I just went so hard andI remember like my legs are
burning, my lungs were screamingat me and it was a super hard
race and it was very hot out andthere's a kid that was kind of
(13:42):
on my tail for about half therace and he ended up passing me,
but I was able to hold on tosecond place and when I finished
the, when I crossed the finishline, I just remember being so
exhausted and so thirsty.
I'd never been so thirsty in mylife but I was just, uh, it was
just kind of like a moment oflike yeah, I gave it my all, I
did my best and I was just so,um, excited about finishing that
(14:05):
race and and even to get secondplace and so, um, so, just that
value of like working yourhardest, and that's something
that my parents always instilledin us.
And also, if you think about ifyou're doing it with all of
your heart for God, it takes offthat pressure of that you're
not doing it for man, you don'thave to do it for, like, any
accolades or any position oranything like that.
(14:27):
You're doing it for God, and Ithink that really helps to give
you that extra boost and alsojust takes that pressure off
that it's all for him and allfor his glory.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, I love your story.
I think of there was nothinggetting in your way.
You know when I think of evenin the work world.
Right, we need the perfecttools, we need the right tools
to do this job.
And you're like I got asnowmobile helmet.
I got a bike that I've got tobreak backwards it didn't matter
Like it's a bike.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Yeah, exactly, I know , sometimes those things can
hold us back and, and I think,having that belief in yourself
and enjoying the process toobecause I know it was hard but
it was a lot of fun, and I thinkthat when you but it was a lot
of fun and I think that when youbring that, enjoyment into it.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Um, it can just take you to places you never imagined
.
Yeah, I once uh went runningand it was, uh, my friends are
running in a half marathon and Iwent oh, I was going to bike
beside them.
So I didn't have anyundergarments on, like I didn't
have a bra on, I was just gonnabike and someone was like you
should run.
I'm like, why wouldn't I?
So I never ran more than 10kilometers and here I'm running
20 and I ran it in an hour and55, which isn't great, but still
(15:42):
pretty good.
Lucky I had runners on.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
But yeah, have you gone on to do any other races?
Well, I ran a marathon.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
You did Good for you so.
I don't run anymore, but I walkthe dog, okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Yeah, that's something my sister and I would
love to do one day is run race amarathon.
Oh, I thought you were going tosay walk the dog.
Oh, yeah, that too.
Run a marathon, okay.
Run a marathon, okay.
Um, I just feel like I alwaysget injured every time I try to
train for it.
But maybe one day, maybe.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
I'll walk it.
You need a training programbecause I can see you just
thinking you should go out andrun 15k one day and it's like
you're gonna start a littleslower and build up.
This is my advice.
Talking about that, well, weobviously learn more.
We know that we learn more fromour failures, our failings and
our mistakes than our ownsuccesses, and I'm wondering if
you would share one of yourgreatest failings or mistakes
(16:38):
and what you learned from itwell, this might not sound so
much like a failure in my eyes.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
It kind of was.
At first, I remember going intothe 2006 Olympics it was a big
year, or that season was a bigyear, and I ended up breaking a
couple of world records beforewe went to the Olympics.
Everything seemed to be kind oflike falling into place.
It seemed like I was having thebest season of my life and I
had those world records in the1500 and the 3000.
(17:08):
And the 1500 meters seemed tobe like my top distance, but it
was more.
I was kind of like a middledistance skater, um, and so we
went um to our final world cupbefore the Olympics in Torino.
And this world cup was actuallybeing held in Torino, so it was
kind of neat because we hadnever been there before, um, or
we had never skated on that icesurface before.
(17:29):
And, um, I and my coach and Idecided you know what, why don't
we treat this like we're goingto the Olympics right now?
So it's kind of like just apractice round before we
actually get there.
And so I mean the plan was,when we got to the Games, that
we'd treat every distanceindividually Like.
Once I finished that race, I'dput it behind me and get ready
(17:50):
for the next race and just focuson one race at a time, because
I was potentially going to beracing five distances at the
Olympics.
And so we went to this WorldCup and it was only three
distances at this World Cup thatI'd be racing, just the way it
was set up and we went into it.
Everything the prep, everythingwas the same as the Olympics.
And my very first race was a1500 meter, which is my top
(18:21):
distance, I would say at thetime.
And I went into it and my topcompetitor, who she had won gold
at the last Olympics in the1500 meter, she ended up beating
me.
We weren't paired togetherbecause you have individual
pairs and then they take thefastest time at the end of the
day and they have like first,second, third, fourth, all the
way down to the last racer.
Um, so we weren't pairedtogether, but she ended up
beating me and I went into thatrace and I felt like I had given
it everything, like I hadn't.
(18:42):
There was nothing that we couldchange.
Like we, I raced it perfectly.
It wasn't like I had a misstepor maybe I started off too fast
or anything like that, and um,or maybe I started off too fast
or anything like that, and sheended up beating me.
And it was kind of like, afterthat race, I remember driving
home or going back to the hotelwith my coach at that time and
just kind of like being kind ofstumped, like what could I have
(19:03):
done better?
Like she beat me and I can't doany better than that and I had
to like come to the realizationthat, like you know what it's,
it was her day and she she beatme that day and I did the best
that I could and that's all Icould do.
I couldn't have done any betterand I need to be satisfied with
that and happy with how I didrace.
And so I was able to put thatbehind me and I went into the
(19:26):
next day I think it was maybethe 3000 meter, another one of
my top races and she beat meagain and we weren't paired
together, but she beat me againand again I felt like I put the
perfect race together.
But after that race I wasn't.
I didn't have the same feelingsanymore as that feeling of like
, oh no, like what?
The like I was hoping to winthe race, but I didn't.
(19:47):
But I was still.
I had that feeling ofsatisfaction that I had done my
best and I actually felt goodabout this race, even though she
beat me again.
And then the next day was thethousand meter, which I also was
one of my, a good race for meand I was expected to do well.
And she beat me again in thatrace.
And so she beat me.
She won gold in every race inthat world cup and I won silver
(20:09):
in every race in that world cup.
Um, we were never pairedtogether, but, um, she ended up
being faster than me and I hadto think like, hey, well, this
could be, this could be whathappens at the Olympics.
I need to be prepared foranything.
And so we went to the Olympicsa couple of months down the road
I raced the 3000 meter.
She didn't even win a medal atthose games or in that, in that
(20:32):
race, um, but I ended up gettingbronze.
But I did my best in that raceand I was happy with the bronze.
And then I went into.
I had two other races I thinkit was the team pursuit and the
1000 meter and I won silver inthose metal in those races.
And then I was getting to the1500 meter, and this was
basically my last like.
(20:53):
I had a 5000 meter race afterthat as well, but I wasn't as
strong in the 5000 meter.
I wasn't expected to do as well.
But the 1500 meter, this was myrace, and if I was ever going
to win gold in a race like thiswould probably be it.
And this was kind of like mylast chance.
And so the morning of that raceI found out who my pair was, and
it was this girl and her nameis Annie Freezinger, from
(21:15):
Germany.
Um, and I was paired with herand I just remember thinking,
like this is awesome, like thisis, we hadn't been paired
together for the last couple ofyears and so, um, so I think
normally I'd probably be kind ofnervous going into this race
against her, um, but I was justexcited.
I'm like, yeah, like this isgoing to be fun.
We're racing against each other.
She's an amazing athlete and Ithink it's going to be a really
(21:38):
good race.
And there's just like a lot ofthings that ended up happening
that day that were were prettyneat to like.
I remember going to the ovalthat day.
We usually go on the ice acouple of hours before a race
just to get a feel for the ice.
And I remember them, um, theyhad opened the doors to the
spectators and all these peoplecame in and I saw this kid come
running in and he was waving aCanadian flag.
(22:01):
And I thought to myself, beforeI get off the ice, um, to get
off and get ready for my race,I'm going to go over and talk to
this kid.
And so, um, I finishedeverything I needed to do on the
ice and I went over to thecorner and and I kind of like
motion for him to come down, andhe showed me his flag and he
had like a bunch of signaturesfrom Canadian athletes and him
(22:21):
and his dad had come out fromToronto to come watch the
Olympics.
And and I just remember justbeing so inspired by this kid,
like I thought like this is so,so cool.
He came all the way here towatch the Olympics and I want to
go out and just show him howmuch fun the sport of speed
skating is.
And so I went into that race andjust felt like just had so much
(22:42):
fun, just so much joy racing.
And I got to race against Annie, who is like just a tremendous
competitor, and I had the racein my life and I ended up coming
out of that race with a goldmedal and it was just um, it was
just amazing to be able tostand on the podium to sing O
Canada.
My, my teammate won silverChristina Gross, she got silver
(23:03):
in that race.
We got to sing O Canadatogether and and then, after I
got my flowers, um, on thepodium, I went over to the side
to where that kid was kind of inthe stands and I could see him
up like a ways up and I kind ofpointed at him and and I threw
the flowers into the crowd andthe crowd actually passed it
back and handed it back to him,and so it was a pretty neat
(23:24):
moment.
And, to top it off, years later,during the 2014 Olympics, I was
in Toronto at the time justvisiting a friend.
He reached out to me somehow.
I don't know how he got aholdof me, but he asked if I would
be able to meet up with him andhis and his parents, and so we
met up.
We had a coffee and he stillhad those flowers that he had
brought them home and dried them, and he had that same flag that
(23:48):
I had signed it for him, but hehad.
It was just full of Canadianathletes that had signed the
flag and it was just really neatjust thinking like he was such
an inspiration for me that day,and I hope that I was a little
bit of an inspiration for him aswell.
But but yeah, just like goingback, like that race in Torino
(24:09):
in the world cup, at thebeginning it just kind of at
first it just felt like, oh no,like I, I didn't, I didn't do
what I had hoped to accomplish,but just being satisfied that I
had given my best and that's allI could do, and and to be happy
with that moment and and itturned out.
It was crazy because AnnieFriesinger, she didn't she ended
(24:29):
up winning gold in the teampursuit, but she didn't win
individual medal at all duringthose Olympics and so which was
very surprising because she'sjust like such a formidable
athlete and and so you justnever know what's going to
happen the day of.
But if you give your best, thenthat's, you can be proud of
that and and whatever, whereveryou end up, just being proud of
(24:51):
doing your best yeah, I justcame across a saying yesterday
and it applies.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
it's by maya angelou I never lose.
I either win or learn.
Oh, that is so good.
I remember losing.
I ran for politics and I lostand I remember saying that, like
, this has been the greatestexperience.
So you know, win or lose, Ilearned a lot, I gained a lot,
and it's winning like losingsucks.
(25:17):
I totally.
Yes, it does, but I just keptsaying like it was the best
experience.
And what can I learn?
Speaker 1 (25:23):
from it.
Yeah, yeah, exactly Like everytime.
I mean every moment that youhave, whether it's a setback or
a success.
I mean you can learn from thoseopportunities and I think the
most growth that we have is whenwe do have those failures or we
do have those setbacks.
I think we grow the most out ofthose.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Yeah, I think when, when you had lost at the um
world cup leading up to um, yourcoach, the the language that
came from your coach was it's,you know, was it very similar to
yours, and that you know we didour best.
We're going to come outtomorrow and do it again and you
know cause we think of thepeople that we surround
ourselves with, right.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Yeah, yeah, he was absolutely.
He was so encouraging and andwe also had to think about, okay
, tomorrow we're planning, we'regoing through this like it is
the Olympics and so we have tostick to our plan and just focus
on tomorrow's race and that'sall we can do and get ready for
that.
And so, yeah, he was veryencouraging and just a
tremendous coach, so helpful andI learned a ton from him.
(26:25):
Yeah, great.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Our next question is at Leader Impact.
We want to go growprofessionally, spiritually and
personally to increase impact.
So would you be willing toshare an example of how the
spiritual makes, which you sortof have been how the spiritual
makes a practical difference inyour life as a leader?
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Yeah, I mean, I think that, um, I mean the spiritual
is, is everything that's, uh,that I'm, I'm living for, like
living my faith is what, whatgrounds me?
And um, I think that for me,just thinking about how this
life is, just this, is justtemporary.
We have such a short life, um,and living in in light of
(27:06):
eternity and um, when I look atmy, the medals that I've won
have actually have been a greatexample for me, because when I
take them to school visits and Ilet the kids try them on and
and they get to hand them aroundand stuff like that, I've
noticed that, like the ribbonsaren't as crisp as they once
were, there's some dings in themetals because they've been
(27:27):
dropped and the gold metal isactually like pretty tarnished,
it's actually getting rusty.
And it's such a great reminderto me of that verse in Matthew,
chapter six, verses 19 to 21.
And it says do not store up foryourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy andwhere thieves break in and steal
, but store up for yourselvestreasures in heaven, where moth
(27:48):
and rust do not destroy andthieves do not break in and
steal, for where your treasureis there, your heart will be
also, and so it's such a greatreminder to me that all of these
things, these things aretemporary, like even the metals
that I've won.
Those are rusting, they'refading.
But everything that we do inour life and we do it for God,
that's the most important thingand I just, yeah, I just think
(28:08):
about how the life that we'reliving it's so short and just
trying to use every opportunitythat I can to live it to glorify
God and for his kingdompurposes, and so just bringing
that into everyday life, like asI raise my kids, as, um, I just
go from day to day, just tryingto be a light and and use every
(28:31):
opportunity for his glory, yeah, and those little eyes, your
children.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
They're watching you, you know, and I think of how I
was raised, or how you wereraised, and we're watching our
parents and we want to be likethem, you know?
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Um, yes, yes, totally , I know, and and and that's.
It's scary too, because I justthink like I mean, I know I
mistake, I make mistakes all thetime, I make mistakes daily,
and but having that forgivenessfrom God and also asking them
for forgiveness when I've mademistakes and stuff like that,
but but yeah, I just remember asa kid like just always like
(29:05):
looking up to my parents, topeople who were older than me,
like coaches or athletes oranything like that.
You're always like looking upto people, and so I'm just
trying to be the best examplethat I can be as Christlike as I
can to my kids.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Yeah, good Leader Impact is dedicated to leaders
having a lasting impact.
So, as you continue to movethrough your own journey in life
, I'm wondering if you'veconsidered what you want your
faith legacy to be when youleave this world.
That's a hard one.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
And I just don't like the word legacy so much because
I just like, after I'm gone,like no one's going to remember
me, nobody's going to care, likeit doesn't.
It's like that's gonna rememberme, nobody's gonna care.
Like it doesn't, like that'snot really.
That's not my priority, I guess, but it.
But then, coming back to mykids, I mean a faith legacy.
I just hope that I can instillmy faith in them and my prayer
is just that they will come toknow Christ and that, um,
(30:00):
they'll live their lives, um,looking to him and everything
they do and so, um, yeah, so forright now, I mean it's mostly
my kids.
That's what I kind of have myeyes on, just trying to to be a
good example for them and andyeah, and then also just I hope
that somehow in my interactionslike with whether it was through
(30:23):
sports or just now in day today life, that my life will just
point people to Christ.
And yeah, I guess that's whatit would be.
But but when I think of of lifelike it's just so, it's like a
vapor, right, and and we'regoing to be forgotten.
I mean, I don't even rememberwho the other people like at the
(30:45):
Olympic Games, like who wonwhat, or anything like that, and
everything's gonna be forgotten.
So I guess, um, uh, yeah, justtrying to live my life as
Christ-like as possible.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Well, um, you are like in the record book, so just
saying your name, right, likepeople will remember you.
It's it, um, and I just thinkof we're going to be meeting in
um a little bit for a for aconference which I'm going to be
moderating, a panel, and you'regoing to be on the panel and
we're talking about definingyour legacy, and it made me
(31:17):
really think that you know, whatam I doing to make happen?
You know like we have to makelife happen.
I know God has control of ourlives, but what am I doing to?
What are the opportunities thatGod are putting in front of me
that I'm grabbing?
And how are people going toremember me?
Like, what am I doing versusletting life happen to me?
Right, like just sitting backand going, whatever?
(31:38):
You know, I'm excited for thatconversation That'll be October
2nd.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Yes, I'm excited for that too.
That's going to be a lot of fun.
Excited to meet you.
You too.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
All right, well, my last question is what brings you
the greatest joy?
Speaker 1 (31:53):
The greatest joy.
You know, it's funny becausewhen I was younger I was just so
focused on sports Like Ithought eventually I'd probably
get married and have kids, butit wasn't really.
You know how.
I mean mean my daughter, shejust loves babies and she loves
like taking care of little kidsand I know that she's gonna just
be so excited to be a mom oneday, whereas for me I just I was
(32:14):
so focused on sports.
I just didn't really I didn'thave that in me.
But then once we did have kids,that was I just can't believe
the change that has come aboutme, where they bring me the
greatest joy.
Just being around them, seeingthem learn things, watching them
play sports or just seeing themhave joy in whatever they're
(32:35):
doing.
That brings me the greatest joyand I never in a million years
knew that I could feel like this.
But yeah, it's, my kids justreally bring me the greatest joy
and I'm just so grateful to Godfor them.
And my husband and I met laterin life and so our first was I
was 40 when she was born and ourson I think I was about 42.
(32:56):
And I wish we could havestarted earlier because I would
have loved to have a biggerfamily, because I just, yeah,
kids are just such a blessing,but I'm so grateful for them and
, yeah, they bring me the mostjoy, for sure.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Yeah, I remember being eight months pregnant and
I had a baby shower for anotherfriend of mine and I was like I
don't want to hold your baby, Idon't want to hold anybody's
baby.
And I was like you, I'm like Idon't even know why I'm having a
baby, but when my baby came, Iwas.
I was mama bear air, don'ttouch my baby, this is my baby.
(33:31):
I just had this complete change.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Are your children involved in sports?
Yeah, we well.
So my youngest isn't really oldenough to play sports yet, but
our five year old she got intotennis and the reason why I put
her in tennis was whenever myfamily, when I was younger, when
we would go on vacation, wealways ended up playing tennis,
and I just love the sport.
It was so much fun, and so weput her in tennis and she's
(33:53):
really enjoying it.
She's doing that right now, andthen, um, skating lessons.
I'm not sure maybe she'll playa little bit of hockey, I I
don't know right now, but uh,just getting her to experience
different sports, see what shelikes and uh, and who knows,
maybe she'll end up wanting tobe a musician or something, but
right now she loves sports andso I'll just keep at it.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Well, that's awesome.
Well done, Well done, Mama.
I want to thank you for justjoining us and just sharing some
time with us.
It's been a pleasure.
If anyone wants to reach out toyou, reach out to you, find you
.
Where's the best place to findyou?
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Oh, I'm horrible with social media.
I am on Twitter but I'm notactive on it.
But I guess there Twitter, doyou have a website?
I do have a website, socindyclaussencom or CA I think
both work, so I don't know.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
Yeah Well, thank you again, Cindy, for joining us.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
No, thank you so much for having me, lisa.
It was just an honor to be apart of your podcast and thanks
for having me.
All right, thank you.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
All right.
Well, if you're part of LeaderImpact, you can always discuss
or share this podcast with yourgroup.
And if you're not yet part ofLeader Impact and would like to
find out more and grow yourleadership, find our podcast
page on our website atleaderimpactca.
You can also check out ourgroups available in Canada at
leaderimpactca or, if you'relistening from anywhere else in
Canada, check outleaderimpactcom or get in touch
with us by email.
Info at leaderimpactca and wewill connect you.
(35:23):
And if you like this podcast,please leave us a comment, give
us a rating or review.
This will help other globalleaders find our podcast.
Thank you for engaging with usand remember impact starts with
you.
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