When you are born in a small place like Saint Lucia, the road to travel is greater than elsewhere. It takes more effort. It takes more imagination. It takes more planes. More trips. More phone […]
“You won’t.” That’s what my aunt said. I was only five years old, and when I try to look back, that’s my first memory. I’m in the back seat of the car, in Dominica, and […]
What remains of a life is just a collection of first times. Because they are the ones who give meaning to everything else. They are the ones that give you the strength to start something […]
Fragility made me stronger. Much stronger. Recognizing my mortality made everything infinitely deeper. Every time I allowed someone to see my limitations, my shortcomings or my pain I became a better person. More patient. More […]
I’m sitting on the edge of the pool. My back against the wall. I watch the lanes. I watch the others go back and forth. I just observe, I struggle to do anything else, because […]
Sometimes it's hard to believe your own life. To the form it has taken, over time. To the path it took you on, day after day. To the places where it pushed you, without you […]
I talk to God. Because God speaks to me. As long as he keeps talking to me, I will answer. And when he stops doing it, I won't fail to look for him, not even […]
Islanders don't think much about the future. Or, at least, they do it in a different way from everyone else. The mainland seems distant, and so does the rest of the world, beyond the ocean, […]
I've always had a strong character, always had a strange idea in my head, and the determination to see it through. To witness what happens when you truly make it happen. I've always been independent, […]
My first memory is always the same. Always the same image that pops in my head. It’s me, as happy as possible, playing sports at the club, just in front of my house. That was […]
Our house was a kind of department store for sports equipment. Kayaks, canoes, balls of all sizes and weights, rollerblades: everywhere you turned there was something related to sport. The paradise of physical activity: a […]
At times, life can be scary. It can bring you in front of the deepest questions, before you even have a full understanding of their meaning. It can force you to think big, way ahead […]
Rugby is a conservative, aristocratic sport. Like boxing. It works with tiers. Crossing the results is never really enough to go forward. It can't be enough, because you have to demonstrate on the field, beating […]
“Niek, if you lose, will you be fine?” I remember my mom asking me that, when I was little, before playing games. Before playing with anything. I was a competitive kid at everything, and if […]
It's hard to attain yourself to only one memory. Actually it's not a specific memory, but it’s afeeling. The feeling of belief. The feeling of believing that I could achieve something higher and bigger than […]
How far I can throw, nobody knows. Maybe I don't know it either, even though I've never had problems dreaming big. Inside those 8.8 pounds there is a density of thoughts, of stories, of past […]
It took me quite some time to understand that in the world there are not only climbers, but also soccer players, volleyball players, basketball players, and so on. For me it was normal to spend […]
"Hey Fanny, would you like to go to the Olympics?” “Ehm... yes. Sure! Why not!?” Here it is! It all started like this, more or less, with one of the simplest and most casual conversations […]
Rey Mysterio has always been my favorite wrestler. He was smaller than the others: he always started the fights in the background, almost forgotten by the cameras. Then, suddenly, thanks to some brilliant moves and […]
Every place is my happy place, if I can climb it. Walls, rocks, mountains. But also trees, doors and windows. Where I can hold on with my hands and fingers, with my feet and with […]
I don't know what the future holds for me, but I would like it, at least, to make me happy. Happier. Because until today I haven't been happy enough. I’m just beginning to understand it. […]
I always try to look ahead, not to think about my past. But every time my parents say something, it comes back. Again and again. And it reminds me something about me, how it all […]
The village is small, and the people are many. So much so that it’s not even possible to count it. A thousand times a thousand. Then again, a thousand more times. And still It’s not […]
I've always been a hard worker. As simple as that. Sometimes you don't need to go that far back, or that much deeper to tell a good story. The core is already there. Simple. That’s […]
I need to have happiness in my life. I deserve to have it, like everyone else. Athlete or non-athlete. Adult, non-adult, or something in between. The first time I achieved something important, I was 17 […]
The speed gene is difficult to explain. Few understand it. Very few have it. And no one is really able to explain it. It’s like having a small chip, under the skin, right at […]
After four sons, Mom was very happy that I was arrived. Then, two more would be born, a boy and a girl, to get to seven, but when I came into the World, I was […]
From my mom, I got emotional intelligence. The ability to quickly understand who you are in front of, to understand how a situation will develop, and to grasp aspects that other people usually miss. From […]
I immediately fell in love with the water. I can’t say the same thing for swimming. I was on vacation with my parents and siblings, when I realized I could float like all others did, […]
Not all clubs are the same. Not all clubs have the same history, the same importance, the same relevance to their community. Basketball is beautiful everywhere. Basketball is a message of hope everywhere. Basketball is […]
“You are not just a basketball player". My parents' heart has always been in the right place, and now that I’m a dad too, I hope mine will never be outdone, in the future. If […]
At the start line of Tokyo's 400 hurdles, I felt invincible. I was like an old Viking. I was like my ancestors, like my conqueror ancestors. Ready to set sail at sea, for war, for […]
646 Miles. On my first night in college, staring at the ceiling of the room, I counted the miles that separated me from my family. And I cried. There is nothing wrong with that. Mom, […]
When I took the first jump, I understood. I realized that was the right place for me, the one where I had to be. I realized that I would never need to try anything else. […]
The human brain develops 80% of its volume during the first two years of life, letting your first 24 months on Earth determine much of the character you will have in the future. Everything takes […]
A lot of the memories that I have as a kid are ski racing, but one that I really like was when I was 14, 15 years old: the first time my dad let me […]
