The Observer

Have you ever dreamed of becoming famous by receiving the Olympic gold medal?

     Well, we cannot help you to fulfil your dream(s), but we can awaken you by giving you a short impression of a person who was at the height of his career at the Olympic Games in Athens 2004 by winning the gold medal and whose worst career moment was still by receiving the silver medal at the World Cup.

     Michael McCann was born in Sydney in September 1977. He disliked school and only recently started to read his first book in his life. However, what he definitely likes since he has turned the age of four is hockey. He never gave up dreaming, which is why he just got his new contract as a full-time hockey trainer in Mannheim Germany for another two years. At the age of nineteen, he began to train the club team in Sydney for about eighty hours per week. That was the time when his private life became quite unimportant in comparison to his professional life.

     However, today’s situation changed. His private life mostly consists of his girlfriend from Austria, who lives with him in Mannheim. He stays in touch with his family from Australia via Skype and playing a little bit of golf here and there as often as he can. Depends on the time he has, he would say. While we were interviewing him, he was quite open, friendly, relaxed and willing to answer every question. When he talked about hockey, he smiled more than usual. Nevertheless, if he could live his life all over again, he would do things differently. He just smiled and did not reply further to the question. But, you could see it in his eyes that he would not do it again, if he had the chance to live his life again. This is quite statement for sportsman because most of them would never tell you the truth.

     His plans for the future are quite moderate compared to his past. He wants to have a family one day and to stay in hockey for a period because of the travelling. Teaching sports in school would not be an option because of the studying. The first thing he would like to do in Australia after a return one day: have a drink at the beach.

     To put it in a nutshell, you can dream about things all day long and some people even live their dreams. However, what really matters in your life are the people in it and not a gold medal or a life of fame. Of course, everyone defines his own sense in life. Therefore, wake up! Take life as it is.