The End To The Dream

Two days ago GB Rowing Squad member Nathaniel Reilly-O'Donnell blogged the following:


The Olympic kit that never was.


Two days ago Jurgen told me that I hadn't made the final cut and wouldn't be in the 2012 Olympic Team.

I feel a whole spectrum of emotions; grief, shame but also pride.  I grieve for what could have been and the failure to reach the goal I set myself on the 6th August 2006, the day I became Junior World Champion.  I feel shame for those that I have let down; the family, friends and supporters who have been there during what is a very public process.  Beyond those emotions I also feel pride; the journey hasn't been easy, just this season I've overcome a serious back injury and a lingering virus.  Consequently, back in February I took beta blockers to settle an irregular heart rhythm and I questioned whether it was all over then.  But I made it back, I took risks, I dug in and endured the pain.  I didn't want to let go of the dream and I dared to be.  As to the final decision, I can’t agree with it and the lack of process hurt.

Reilly-O'Donnell then goes on to thank a whole bunch of people who have helped him: friends, family, coaches, sponsors

I will be running with the team until the eve of the Games.  The guys are a great group, each with their own stories, each with their own qwerks.  Over the past four years I have loved the spirit within the team, we are a real unit with a great sense of humour.  I know what each of them has done and they all deserve to succeed in front of a stunning home crowd.

As to my future, I am still to decide.  I have the desire to win at an Olympic Games, but I have to look to other options too.  I’m a highly numerate law graduate seeking a new and exciting challenge, find me on LinkedIn or Twitter if you think I could make a difference.
Nathaniel at 19:57"


I will never be in a position to know what Reilly-O'Donnell knows and I hope that knowledge that he has of himself; his ability, his ability to withstand pain and privation; his ability to endure in pursuit of an extreme goal - I hope that he understands he has been privileged to have learnt something 99.99% of us will never know, when he looks back on his life.


But above all, I hope that under similar circumstances I would find the grace under pressure to firstly thank those that had helped me and secondly to be able to take such a dispassionately supportive view of those colleagues but rivals who had made it to the what was, until minutes ago, my goal too.