Whitfield: Look after yourself, look after one another

Whitfield: Look after yourself, look after one another

Things seem to be settling down now after a crazy 10 days capped off by a long Olympic selection process. A few days removed and I've come to realize a few things upon further reflection. First and foremost I'm not as stoic and unaffected by this stuff as I think I imagined myself to be. In preparing myself to tackle the challenges ahead I approached the Olympic selection with the attitude that it would be my third Olympics and I would be immune to all the tension and emotion associated with the process. I was wrong, in fact some of my comments, although I felt at the time they were appropriate , heaped fuel on the fire so to speak. I can accept and reflect on the fact that they were actually fairly arrogant and cold. I agree with how the team was selected, I know the thought, expertise and complex realities that made up that decision but I let the frustration that others didn't see eye-to-eye with me led me to unfortunately try and tell others they weren't medal contenders, something I never should have or had any right to say. In Sydney I certainly would have fallen in the same boat, an "under the radar '' athlete who just caught the Olympic spirit, bottled it up and let it fuel that crazy sprint finish eight years ago. Paul Tichelaar from Edmonton is certainly an athlete who looks ready to kick down the door and burst onto the podium, maybe I'll just serve as the "distractor" to his contender.

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