Elly Lefort
French Olympic Team, Illinois, États-Unis
Bobsleigh
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Greetings everyone and welcome to my campaign!
My name is Elly Lefort.
I am here to kindly request your support in the running for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games!!!
I have the experience and the know-how it takes to get to the Olympics but I cannot do it without your support!!!
With effort, struggle, and personal sacrifice my team and I made it to our first 2014 Olympic in Sochi, Russian as part of the French Bobsled team. I can proudly say that we were one of the underdogs of the season. As the youngest and most amateur team, we managed to finish in the 17th place among internationally ranked competitors and long-standing seasoned champions of bobsled. The 2014 Winter Olympics was the most successful season of my professional athletic career to date. Participating in the Olympics taught me many things and gave me a wealth of experience that I will take with me to the 2018 Winter Olympics. The most important lesson learned from my experience is that I cannot do it alone.
To excel beyond my 2014 Olympic record, I would like an opportunity to compete at par among the internationally ranked bobsled teams. I have created this campaign because I need your help to make it and excel beyond my 2014 Olympic record at the next 2018 Winter Olympics.
The campaign funds collected will go towards my training and the expenses associated with the Olympic qualifiers as well as the games, should I be so honored to participate. It is not an inexpensive endeavor and though it seems like 2018 is far away, for an athlete in training, it is really just around the corner. So the earlier, the better.
Every little bit helps and would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you kindly,
Elly Lefort
P.S. If you’d like to know more about me read below. :)
My Story: The Journey to my Big Dream...And Beyond!
My journey to the 2014 Olympics was a long and tough path filled with ups and downs but every setback became an opportunity for learning and resilience. These opportunities helped me to become stronger and solidified in me even more the love of sport.
I started participating in sports around the age of fifteen in Athletics. At the age of twenty, I was given the opportunity to compete for the Monaco bobsled team. Up until that point, I had never heard of bobsled. I took the risk and tried my best. There were many times when I doubted myself, made many mistakes, an incurred many injuries but with the help of my team I reached a high level in bobsled. I made my debut in the Bobsled World Cup 2009. My best finish was 8th place in the World Cup in a pair event in 2010-2011. I also reached the highest level I could in the World Championships at 20th place coming in the two-man event in 2013. In 2013, after reaching the highest level competitions possible with the Monaco bobsled team I felt it was now time to compete for the Olympics, my biggest dream yet.
There are two games to every Olympics, the internal mental struggle and the outside struggles.
In the preparation for the Olympic Games is where the will is tested over and over again, it is where challenges are faced and sacrifices are made. At every outside struggle or obstacle is an opportunity to say to yourself I have had enough or I give up, but internally you fight with yourself to find the strenght to keep going. It is where in the words of Rocky Balboa, “It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward. It’s how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.” This journey takes place from the moment the decision is made to the moment the announcement is made that you will be competing in the Olympic Games.
On this journey, I got hit hard but kept moving forward. My first challenge was leaving behind my beloved first bobsled team and transiting from professional to amatuer athlete. I knew it was not going to be an easy transition. I went from having all the support services of a professional team to no support. I took a full-time job with a logistics company to pay for my expenses and during the evenings I trained. In my spare time, I reached out to local business and community leaders in my home town of St. Nazaire for help. In addition, being the new guy competing for a spot in the French Bobsled team was not easy either. I had to prove to my future teammates that I had what it took to earn a spot and their trust.
After securing a spot on the France Team 1 for the 4-man as pusher, the real challenges began: the qualifiers. During the qualifiers, I lived off my savings and the help of my friends, family, community business, and leaders of St. Nazaire. As an amateur team, we did the best we could with what he had. We did not have a coach, physical trainer, sufficient part/equipment, or combined team experience. For some of us, it was the first we had ever stepped foot on some of the tracks. Lake Placid, NY is known for being one the most dangerous tracks in the world. The one week we practiced and competed on that track was the first time our driver had ever stepped foot on it. Yet, we managed to pull through and qualified that week. “It’s about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward.”
My toughest struggle of the qualifiers was my injury; an athlete’s worst nightmare. The reality of not having a professional support system for our team hit me. I thought to myself, how will I manage in a foreign country with no doctor, no support. I developed a debilitating pain on my right side. I was no longer able to sit, stand, or even eat from the pain which caused me nausea. Luckily, I was able to find a doctor at an affordable price and diagnosed it as Piriformis Syndrome. It is a condition in which the piriformis muscle, located in the buttock region, spasms and causes buttock pain. The inflamed piriformis muscle also irritated the nearby sciatic nerve which caused pain, numbness and tingling along the back of the leg down into the foot. The doctor told me not to race. I was devastated and depressed because it would put my dream at stake. I had to stepdown. After rest, ice, careful exercises, and patience I found the inner strength, focus, and resilience to compete again and to not let the inner mental struggle take over me. “It’s how much you can take and keep moving forward.”
The announcement that France was going to the Olympics was amazing. We had survived the qualifiers and now the real games were about to begin. My dream was being realized. In spite of our disadvantages as a team we kept moving forward and earned our 17th place among the seventy-five plus teams that first started with us in the qualifiers. From opening ceremony to closing ceremony, it was a dream of one excitement after another. I thank God for giving me the strength to keep moving forward and for placing help along the way because I know that with support, “That’s how winning is done.”
And now to the beyond!
I dreamt BIG and I want to keep moving forward. This time, my dream is to take home a medal but I need your help!!!!!
Having gone through my first Olympic experience, I know what lies ahead and what to expect. This makes me a stronger candidate for the 2018 Winter Olympics. I got hit and learned how to move forward. However, my effort alone will only take me so far. That is why I am asking for your help: because with your support I can move forward and farther because "that's how winning is done."
Please donate to my campaign to help me bring home a medal at the next 2018 Winter Olympics!
Sincerely,
Elly Lefort