parents, who urged her as a child to speed-skate, broached the subject, again.

Klassen had never been thrilled about what she termed “those skin-tight outfits and strange, long-bladedskates,” but because her mother could get a discount on the equipment, she agreed to give it a try.

“It was so hard to even stand on the skates. I had a lot of trouble learning the technique,” explains Klassen. “All of my training for 13 years had been geared to hockey and this was so different.

“There were still those weird outfits ... For the better part of my first year in speed skating, I went against the grain and wore very baggy clothes,” Klassen laughs.

“But at the same time, I was finding that I loved doing an individual sport, because what you put into it, you get out of it.”

And Klassen put her whole self into it. She trained six days a week, her daily schedule consisting of two and a half hours on the ice in the morning, lunch, a nap and two hours of either cycling or weights in the afternoon. Her strenuous work paid off, as Klassen competed successfully in the World Championships and World Cups.

Then her lifelong dream was realized when she made it to the Winter Olympics.

“The World Championships can be pretty amazing but the Olympics takes this to a new level,” says Klassen.

“For a time in Salt Lake, the pressure was getting to me,” she admits. “I wasn’t sleeping, I couldn’t eat. I was so nervous.”

She registered to compete in four events — the 1,000, 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000 metres. When the time came for the 3,000-metre race, her anxiety sky-rocketed.

“But that very day,” she recalls, “I received an e-mail from the students at my old high school (Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute). [It] was packed with notes of encouragement, telling me they were cheering [and] praying for me.”

“And that’s when it hit me,” Klassen continues. “This is just another race. [God] knows the outcome. All I can do is use what He’s given me. All I can do is do the best I can. So, that’s what I did.”

Suddenly it was all over, and Klassen found herself standing on the podium. Her “best” had been rewarded with an Olympic bronze medal.

Since then, the geography major has only continued to improve, and in 2003 she became the first Canadian in 27 years to win the overall title at the World Speed Skating Championships.

Klassen now recognizes that, despite being rejected by the Olympic hockey team, “God was leading me. This was His plan all along. I learned by getting cut.”

She adds, “(As a believer in Jesus Christ), even when you want things ... if it’s not in God’s will, it’s not going to happen. I’ve learned to go along with that.

“Right now in speed skating I’m having the time of my life, but I have to be ready to move on if He wants me to do something else.”

Klassen desires to be as open about her faith as former teammate and gold medalist, Catriona LeMay Doan, who told City Light News, “It’s my relationship with Jesus that gives me true significance.”

Inspired by Doan’s boldness, Klassen says, “I want to use the publicity I’ve gotten through my success for His glory. I go back to my old high school and talk to the students. I ... let people know I’m a Christian.”

She adds, “I’ve won a medal, but that’s nothing compared to the crown I’ll get in Heaven. I see a lot of people in sports who think when they reach a certain level they’ve got it made, but really, you can only find happiness in the Lord.”

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