Lillehammer, Norway
Thursday 11 February 2016
I’m super excited to see the YOG 2016 kick-off tomorrow (12 February) and thought I would shed light on how I prepare for major events.
I still get the chills when I think back to the Sochi Winter games but I actually want to go way further back in time. All the way back to the winter of 2008. This was my last season as junior and me and my team were motivated to make the most of it.
My parents have always supported me and I guess my mum figured I could use a little help. She bought a book on how to become a winner - I know this might sound like the biggest cliché ever but the advice was solid. The book by Mette Bloch (renowned elite rower with two world champions titles) expressed that in order to achieve your goal you had to visualize it.
Explicitly one of the tasks was to draw situation just before fulfilling your dream. So I went ahead and drew the worst sketch ever of my team and I playing Canada in the World Junior Curling Championships final. Little did I know that this outcome would take place a few months later at the World Junior Championships in 2009.
Obviously a simple drawing is not gonna guarantee a Gold medal at any given event, the basic requirement is to practice and practice a lot. But when practice becomes tiresome or you’d rather just hang out with some friends – then the drawing becomes vital. It will hold you to your dream cause you can see it right there in front of your eyes. So my advice is dare to dream and believe it and it might just happen.
Rasmus Stjerne, from Hvidovre in Denmark, has been selected as the Athlete Role Model (ARM) for curling at the 2nd Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Lillehammer, Norway (12-21 February 2016).
Stjerne, who is 27, led the Danish men’s team to a 6th place finish at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games curling competition. He is a World Junior champion (2009) and has skipped the Danish men’s team to silver and bronze medals at the European Curling Championships and qualified Demark for three world men’s championships.
He will be writing a blog for the WCF throughout YOG 2016, geared towards the athletes taking part, sharing the experiences he has had competing at Olympic Winter Games and major international curling events.
A total of 64 curlers representing 16 nations will have the chance to compete for medals in two unique curling competitions – Mixed and Mixed Doubles – at the Curling Hall in the Stampsletta Ice Venues, which will also host Ice Hockey events.
From Friday 12 February at 09.00 through to Wednesday 17 February the Mixed event will be played. After the Mixed event, an innovative Mixed Doubles Curling competition will take place from 09:00 on Friday 19 February. This will see one male and one female athlete, from different countries, playing together.
Curling fans can follow all the action from Lillehammer 2016 on social media using the following channels:
Twitter & Instagram: @worldcurling | @Lillehammer2016
Facebook: www.facebook.com/WorldCurlingFederation | www.facebook.com/Lillehammer2016
YouTube: www.youtube.com/lillehammer2016 | www.youtube.com/olympics
Hashtags: #YOGcurling #iLoveYOG #Lillehammer2016