The Olympic decathlon is widely considered to be the toughest event. Athletes have to excel at 10 different track and field events. The 2024 Olympic decathlon bronze medalist had some words of wisdom for young students who are just beginning to set goals.
It's not every day that you get to see an Olympic medal up close, but Trinity Valley School in Fort Worth students got that chance this week when 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Lindon Victor spoke at a special assembly.
"My goal coming to the U.S. was never to be an Olympian. No, my goal was to get an education," Victor said. "Being an Olympian and being an Olympic medalist was just a bonus. It was a byproduct of the way that I lived my life."
Victor was born and raised on the Caribbean island of Grenada. He represented his home country in the Paris Games, competing in the decathlon. It's widely considered the toughest event because athletes must excel in 10 different track and field events.
Victor said his Olympic medal was never a given; it was determination and perseverance.
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"There isn't a college in the U.S. that I did not apply to," Victor told the young students. "Not one of them offered me a scholarship. They told me I wasn't good enough."
Victor said he kept trying, kept training, kept believing in himself. He eventually made it to Texas A&M, where he wrote his goals on a mirror, where he could see them every day.
"And every time I'm training, I'm thinking about my goals; I'm thinking about what I wrote down," Victor told the assembly. "That next year, everything I wrote down on that mirror that day, EVERYTHING I did. Everything!"
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"Writing your goals, I've heard, has helped a lot, and I haven't really done that," 8th-grade football and lacrosse player Will Lewis said. "So I'm trying it when I get home."
"What he said about discipline definitely helped a lot," 8th-grade volleyball player Victoria Carter said. "Because there is days when I don't want to practice at all!"
"Some of you guys think that you're too young to make these decisions. The fact of the matter is you're not too young to change your life, but you're also not too young to mess up your life," Victor cautioned. "Choose your friends wisely, write your goals down, and work hard."
Maybe one day, one of the Trinity Valley School assembly students will have their own Olympic medal.
"Just remember me when you do," Victor said, smiling.
