Local athletes, coaches in Beijing for Olympics

By Dale Woodard - Lethbridge Herald on February 12, 2022.

A little athletic versatility can go a long way.
As Lethbridge Sport Council executive director Susan Eymann noted, it can even launch someone onto the Olympic stage.
As the Olympic Games are underway in Beijing, southern Alberta has once again sent a contingent, this one consisting of bobsleigh athletes Ryan Sommer and Lethbridge-born Taylor Austin.
Joining them is Florian Linder, the technical coach and performance analyst for the Chinese Bobsleigh team.
Kaleb Muller, a member of the Lethbridge Speed Skating Association, was named as a non-travelling alternate to the long-track speed skating team.
Eymann noted the trio’s athletic versatility has helped them reach the Olympic stage.
“The multi-sport athlete has so many transferable skills,” said Eymann. “They know how to train and they know how to compete and they love it and as they age out of their original sports they look for something else.
Sommer was a member of the Pronghorns track and field team who graduated in 2016, while Austin is a former University of Calgary football player.
Linder is a former sprinter with the University of Lethbridge and 2006 Olympian in bobsleigh.
For the past three winter Olympics he has found his niche as the technical coach for the host’s team and has coached the Canadian, Russian and Korean teams at each of the previous three Olympics in Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018. 
Muller was the recipient of the Lethbridge Sport Council Achievement Award for Junior Male Athlete in 2014 and Senior Male Athlete in 2019. 
“Florian as a coach developed his skills and they were transferrable,” said Eymann. “Being a multi-sport is really beneficial. At the Lethbridge Sport Council, we hire student athletes as our interns and those skills are so transferable as employees.”
The three local representatives will join 215 athletes and 85 coaches representing Canada. Approximately 2,900 athletes from 90 National Olympic Committees are expected to participate in 109 events in seven Olympic winter sports. 
The bobsleigh two-man heats begin Feb. 14.
Back home, Eymann stressed the importance of choosing one’s sport of choice and seeing where it goes.
“The message to up-and-coming athletes and youth in the community, participate in the sport they enjoy as a youth and it can take them in any direction they’d like it to take them.”

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