Attitude at Altitude

The Student Life section of Utah State Today highlights work written by the talented student journalists at Utah State University. Each week, the editor selects a story that has been published in The Utah Statesman or the Hard News Café, or both, for inclusion in Utah State Today.

 

 

By April Ashland in The Utah Statesman, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010

 

Professor Rich Gordin is currently attending his third Olympic Games with the USA Combined Nordic Skiing team and living in the Olympic Village.

 

While Gordin is no stranger to going with USA teams to the Olympics, this year is his first at a winter games. In 1980 he attended the games with the USA gymnastics team, and in 2004 he attended the games with the USA track and field team.

 

“It’s an honor for me to work with Olympic athletes,” Gordin said. “They get one moment every four years. There are no do-overs, no re-dos. They’re pursuing excellence.”

 

Gordin has been working with the combined nordic ski team for two years. He said he has gotten to know each of the team members and each individual’s mental strengths and weaknesses, which helps him to train them better.

 

“I help them get better at the mental game,” he said. “They continue to work on the other aspects of the sport: their training and conditioning. I just add another component to their training in a formal way.”

 

Gordin said his favorite part of the Olympic Games is seeing the success of the athletes he works with. He said when he went to the games with the gymnastics team, they missed out on a team medal by half a point but did really well. In the Athens games in 2004 the track and field team won 25 medals, he said.

 

This year, Gordin hopes the athletes he’s working with receive medals. The USA combined nordic ski team is one of two USA teams that has never won a medal in the winter games. He said that fact is part of what intrigued him and made him want to work with the team.

 

“We have a chance,” he said. “We have one of the strongest teams we’ve ever had going up there, that would be great if we could win at least one medal.”

 

Sunday was the first competition for the team, and Johnny Spillane won USA’s first combined nordic medal. At one point in the competition, he was in fifth place, but he came up from behind to win silver. Todd Lodwick, also from team USA, came in fourth. The team will compete next on Feb. 23 and 25.

 

Gordin said he won’t have time to really enjoy Vancouver or see the sights, since it’s a 2-hour drive from Vancouver to the Olympic Village, and the athletes have training every day. He said he stays with the team. In the Athens games, he said he had the opportunity to see the city some afternoons but mostly didn’t have time.

 

“I’m there to work. This isn’t a vacation,” he said. “People think it is a vacation, but it really is work.”

 

Gordin has worked at USU for 29 years, and has been taught in the HPER department and the psychology department. He was interim department head for HPER in 2003-2004 and has been an adjunct professor for the psychology department since 1992.

 

He is a consultant for many groups, including USA swimming and the United States Fencing Association, as well as many USU sports teams. He said he received his doctorate in sports psychology and educational psychology from the University of Utah in 1981. He has published 75 articles and book chapters and has made 300 presentations at various conferences. His resume is 41 pages long.