Olympic Features: Mind Games
Hollingsworth: 'I live in the moment'
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 3, 2010 | 12:43 PM ET
By Nancy Wilson, CBC Sports
You'd think with the Olympics just weeks away, Canadian athletes, particularly medal hopefuls, would be hunkered down, focused and serious.
And yet, the first thing I notice about skeleton world champion, Mellisa Hollingsworth, is her killer smile.
She smiles a lot during our conversation, and she says she's not obsessing about doing Canada proud. Don't get me wrong, she plans to win: she won Olympic bronze in 2006 and she talks about winning gold, this time around.
What's more, she says she loves the idea of competing at home. It's just that it's not consuming her.
" I don't really think about the Olympics these days. I live in the moment."
She's had some dark moments in her sliding career. She says she was devastated when she didn't make the Olympic team in 2002. She thought of quitting the sport altogether. But she persevered, made some changes in her training and in her mindset. Now, she says, she makes sure its fun.
She's an avid horseback rider and whenever she gets the chance back home in Calgary she's out riding … it's her "horse therapy."
There's music therapy too: what's on her Olympic play list? "White Lightening" by George Jones.
How perfect is that? Her sled is white and nicknamed white lightening. Plus, it's a kick-ass kind of tune and that's sure to help her celebrate being in those Olympic moments.
