Page 83 - SHARP Summer 2024

FEATURE
O LYMPIC COMPETITION IS TYPICALLY USED AS A MEANS OF
bolstering international relations. In Canada, we tend to approach such affairs with a distinctly Canadian sensibility: unassuming, modest, and deferential — even in our proudest moments. Last winter, Canadian World Champion beach volleyball player Melissa Humana-Paredes said the following to the Olympic Committee: “One mantra that I’ve been sticking to lately has been ‘this too shall pass.’ I think that is extremely relevant in both really challenging situations, but also really positive situations. What I take from that is everything will move on.”
It’s sage advice and, once one retires from their sport, a mantra that will likely lead to a well-adjusted life. Because, even following the greatest of our achievements, our instincts mostly tell us to hold back, to promise the world that we won’t stand in the spotlight for too long. It’s like a little brother, obediently returning the video game controller to an older sibling after a brief chance to play. But, at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, 21-year-old gymnast Félix Dolci will lead a new vanguard of athletes onto the world stage, one that is staunchly rejecting the “little brother syndrome” perpetuated by generations past. And, armed with his perfectly manicured blond hair and a dazzlingly white smile, Dolci emanates the sort of unbridled confidence that can only develop after a wealth of early career success.
“I was pretty young when I realized that I was exceptionally independent when it came to competition,” says Dolci, recalling his formative experiences with sport. Like most, Dolci played team sports as a child but, by six years old, he grew frustrated when teammates wouldn’t take the competition as seriously as he did. “I basically wanted to have everything on my shoulders. I wanted to control
the outcome. So, I started focusing on gymnastics more intensely. I got attached to seeing that progress almost immediately. By 10, I was training over 30 hours per week.”
Despite the accolades earned throughout his illustrious junior career, Dolci’s greatest point of personal pride is his insatiable work ethic. In the last year alone, he added five medals (two golds) to his trophy case, won during his debut at the Pan American Games. But it’s not until we discuss his gruelling high school training regimen that a wide smile spreads across his face. Working under coach Adrian Balan — who employs the same militaristic approach shared by most Romanian gymnastics coaches — Dolci found what felt like permission to test his ambition to its highest degree.
“Not everyone wants to get that intense at that age,” he says. “Not everyone wants to take it as far as they can. I wanted to be surrounded by people who wouldn’t limit that. My coach was extremely severe. He still is, but especially when I was younger. I connected with it immediately.”
Ironically, what Dolci discovered through Balan’s rigid discipline was the freedom to work on his craft uninhibited by distractions. Dolci explains that when he or his training partners would fail to put forth what Balan deemed full effort, his remedy was simple.
“He’d kick us out,” he says. “Like, very often. You don’t want to do an extra set? Get out of the gym. You want to apologize for joking around? No, grab your bag. You’re gone. It wasn’t meant to be dramatic or funny. We just aren’t there to waste time. Carelessness is contagious. Laziness is contagious. He doesn’t want one person to expose that to the others.”
At home, Dolci’s father only reinforced his coach’s philosophies.
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