World Fit has been a blessing not just for our Middle School but also for me. After many years of swimming I was so burned out that I didn’t want to do anything for many years. It’s been hard reprogramming my brain to exercise for health reasons instead of competition.

World Fit has reminded me that I need to take care of my health. Being a preacher’s wife I have focused so much on my spiritual walk and neglected my physical one. God wants all of us to focus on mind, body and spirit. I want to be good role model for kids in showing them the importance of taking care of everything God has given them. Thanks World Fit!

New York City is home to many things, one of them being yellow taxi cabs. But this morning, as my mom and I prepared to make the eight-mile trip downtown, the pouring rain meant we couldn’t find one for 20 minutes. They were all occupied. Finally, after getting an empty one, it took us an hour to make those eight miles. So in effect, we learned the first lesson of the day before stepping into P.S. 276, the Battery Park City School I was visiting on behalf of the World Fit program: cars aren’t always faster than your own two feet!

The goal of the World Fit program is to eradicate childhood obesity through sharing – and showing — the importance of staying fit for life by example and experience using the Olympic ideals.

My visit to P.S. 276 was not only to explain how the World Fit program works to the three 6th grade classes who are embarking on the journey, but also to encourage them. We all know it’s important to exercise and eat right, but sometimes we all need a little inspiration and motivation!

World Fit was started by Gary Hall Sr. and Gary Hall Jr., a father-son duo who each won medals in swimming in the Olympics. The program operates alongside the same ideals the Olympics are founded on: friendship, mentorship, respect, integrity and responsibility. Each hour of walking the sixth graders log in the next few weeks will be equal to one point. Other types of exercise, such as various sports and running, also count. The kids log in their exercise, a school supervisor signs off on it, and the point totals are added.

Now here’s where the friendship and mentorship come in. Each sixth grader will be paired with a first grade “buddy” in the school who they will mentor and walk with. Each participant will encourage the other. Each of the sixth graders can also have their friends, family and people in their communities join on their team too. Everyone on their team will earn points as they exercise, although their points are only worth half of the sixth graders. When I was explaining this part, hands shot up immediately.

“Does my friend have to live in this state to be on my team?” one asked, thinking of all the people he could encourage to join in his efforts. “Nope.” That’s right, their long-distance friends can join in on the fun. The more the merrier!

“Is there a limit to the number of people we can have on our team?” another asked as a follow up. “Nope!”

Everyone you know can be part of it. Walk with you. Play tennis with you. Handball. Soccer. You name it. You discuss it with your friends, you talk about it, they log it, it all counts.

The camaraderie athletics encourages is one of my favorite things about organized sports. You make friends, you form bonds, and you can all be together while being physically active in a friendly atmosphere.

Since it was raining we couldn’t walk outside. Instead we climbed the stairs and got a workout while simultaneously getting a tour of the school. This is the first year of classes at P.S. 276 and it is a beautiful, new school. Any time is a good time to improve your health, but learning the right way from the beginning is the best. And this is what we did today.

We assembled back in the auditorium after our stair-climbing kick-off and talked about what we liked most about school and sports. Everyone was in a good mood after the rush of endopmorphins!

One of the things the kids were most enthusiastic about was the friendly rivalry with a neighboring school who would be competing against them in their World Fit journey. One boy asked a question about the Olympics, and I explained that even though it is only held once every two years, it is a special event since each athlete represents a country. Therefore, the participants don’t just represent themselves, they represent their nation. And at the end of this Olympic friendly rivalry, countries will tally up medal totals at the end, seeing who won most. It is kind of like how each student at P.S. 276 will log their miles and their points will all be added up to represent their school against their “rival” school.

At the end of our visit, they seemed convinced they could earn more points and be the “fittest school in NYC.”

The important thing for World Fit is to introduce kids to being active if they are not already and hope they continue after their World Fit journey ends. Did you know almost 1/3 of kids today are considered to be obese or overweight? That is just too much and this number can be easily reduced with the right amount of exercise and nutrition. We discussed the importance of proper nutrition to fuel our bodies for exercise and stretches to help our body stay limber and recover. But in the end, we all agreed, we’ll exercise and eat right because it feels good and life is much sweeter when you’re feeling good.

The Impact of World Fit is Breathtaking

One Child at a Time

It’s amazing how our lives can sneak up on us. When we’re young, all we want is to be older. We wanted time to pass quickly. Getting older was going to be a great thing. And then – oh good – we get exactly what we want. Whammo! We wake up, and suddenly we are old. Very old. We’ve hit 30 old. Before you know it, 40 comes and goes, 45 and RATS – how did we get here?

Is this it?

Nope. Nada. We’re not getting older. We’re getting…okay, we are getting older. But that can also mean that we can step into a child’s life and become a role model. We can take all that wisdom and make an impact on the younger generation. World Fit has given us the purpose, the “legs,” and the inspiration to do just that!

I’m one of the lucky ones.

You see, I love crossing finishing lines. Who doesn’t? But I have had to redefine the size and shape of those lines.

How about this instead? I am driving my car pretty darn fast to make a school assembly at Bridgetown Middle School. I’m hopelessly lost and starting to really panic. Sounds like one of my marathons! Then all of the sudden, my car crests a hill and there is a huge sign in front of an old school building that says Welcome Olympian Julie Isphording.

Olympian Julie Isphording at Bridgetown Middle School

My heart soars.

Another finish line.

There were 700 kids in the gymnasium. Energized. Happy. Fun-loving. The World Fit message is so loud, clear, and easy to communicate.

After all, I believe that we were meant to dance through every day and every tomorrow; that living a healthy life should be fun; that choosing a healthy life comes to us with an exclamation mark at the end, not a question mark. There should be no doubt about it!

I get up, put on my “party pants,” lace up those big brave shoes, jump higher than I ever have before, and bless that road I’m on today.

It’s what we are all about.

Now we just have to share that message with all the children in the world. One child at a time.

Here’s something else I told those wonderful Bridgetown kids: Most of the beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds – Plenty of roses, stars, chocolates, sunsets, rainbows, friends, lovers – but there is only one YOU in the whole world. Take good care of yourself!

We ended the assembly with the finish line pose – 1402 little arms straight in the air.

I retired from competition in 2006 and since then have been processing my experience as a competitive snowboarder.

Transitions aren’t usually easy in general and retirement is no exception. Like many athletes, we live and breathe our sport for most of our lives and when we decide to move on to other endeavors there is often a space left where our sport lived inside us.

Of course, the sport isn’t gone. I still snowboard, especially during our snowy Oregon winters but it’s different now. I don’t focus my attention so heavily on my strict eating habits and workouts, preparing for competitions and recovering from injuries. While I still eat well and exercise, I now look for ways to use my experience in my sport as a platform for something good.

Believe me, I don’t like to go around tooting my own horn but if a child will listen to something I have to say because I’m an Olympian than I can put my discomfort aside. I was reminded of this while I spoke to two middle schools in my home town of Hood River. I went to the cafeteria to meet some of the kids the day that I was to speak and was initially met with questioning looks. “Who’s this lady sitting at my table?” I started talking to the kids and when I told them I was speaking at the assembly their faces lit up.

Middle school can be a tough time for kids, it was for me. If I can reach a couple kids or help influence a few kids to make good choices than my efforts are worthwhile. Seeing these kids reaction to the “O – word” fires me up. You can bet I’ll be out there walking with those kids over the next few weeks.

In the past six months, whenever I told my non-athlete friends that I had to get back into shape, they looked at me like I was crazy.

To them, I was never out of shape. In the years after Beijing I’ve run a marathon, I’ve biked 40 minutes each way to work every day, I’ve spent more time in the gym than probably any other law student here at Columbia.

In general I feel healthy and fit. But trust me, when I got on the rowing machine again it became painfully obvious that I was out of shape. The sport-specific fitness just wasn’t there anymore, and I was feeling the loss.

One of my friends who is also getting back into shape to compete in London 2012 put it succinctly: “You’re going to suffer for a few months, but you’ve just got to push through it and then you’ll be a rockstar.” That was when it occurred to me that my struggles getting back into Olympic shape have a lot in common with those of anyone who is starting a fitness regime for the first time. That is why I am sharing my journey with you.

Fit people will tell you that you should enjoy exercise. I’m here to tell you they’re wrong. Most exercise is not fun, and you will not enjoy it, especially when you’re not used to it. It hurts, and you will suffer. You will feel tired all the time when you start out. But if you can push through that initial phase, then you begin to reap the rewards.

For me, the fun part comes after the exercise. There’s nothing like flopping on the couch after a hard morning workout with a bowl of oatmeal (my favorite breakfast because, as a coach once told me, “oats move boats”) and reveling in the feeling of soreness and exhaustion in my muscles. I love it because I know it means I’m getting stronger.

This makes sense given what we know about sport physiology: you actually get fitter in the period of rest after a workout. In order to get stronger first you must break down your muscles with strenuous activity, and then you must rest while your muscles rebuild themselves to be able handle the activity next time around.

Yes, you are getting fitter while you sit on the couch and watch TV… but only if you stress your body first, and then give it the things it needs to recover. That is why proper nutrition and plenty of rest is so important for athletes, and why I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get in shape.

As for me, I’m exhausted, and I’m going to bed. What better excuse to put myself to bed at 9:30pm than the idea that I will be getting fitter in my sleep?

So much is happening with World Fit and so fast, I am likely to leave something out. Here are some of the major highlights since last fall:

1. The United States House of Representatives unanimously passed a Resolution commending Team USA from the 2010 Olympics, and supporting Olympic Day and World Fit.
2. The World Fit Foundation was incorporated in Florida. The United States Olympians and Paralympians Association (USOPA) unanimously approved the corporate bylaws and the officers and directors of the World Fit Foundation. The USOPA will select one Olympian to serve on the Executive Board and will approve all Olympians serving on the Advisory Board of the World Fit Foundation. Lt. Micki King (diving 68 and 72) was selected by the USOPA to serve on the Executive Board.
3. The World Fit Foundation became an official licensee of the Olympic marks and will be allowed to seek support from within and outside (non-competing categories) the Olympic family of sponsors.
4. The President’s Council on Fitness Sports and Nutrition asked World Fit to help them achieve their goal of reaching one million Americans who earn the President’s Active Lifestyle Award this year. World Fit is a proud partner of the President’s Council for this goal.
5. At this moment, over 100 Olympians, Paralympians and other athletes have registered and shown their support for World Fit. More are registering each week. There are 7,000 of us in the USA and we are all needed in this effort.
6. All 43 countries that were represented at the Olympic Congress meeting in Ft. Myers Florida expressed an interest in starting a World Fit program using their own Olympians and Paralympians to mentor their youth. World Fit will consider global expansion in 2012.
7. World Fit is on its way toward its goal of enlisting 200 schools in America for the 2011 World Fit Walk. We need help in order to reach that number, so please encourage any middle school you may know, whether public, private, charter or k-8 schools to register for the Walk today.

My son, Gary Jr, asked me to change a word in our mission statement when we were crafting it. He said to change the word ‘curb’ childhood obesity to ‘eradicate’ childhood obesity. He is right and I agreed. We really can eradicate childhood obesity in America. Wouldn’t that be something for all of us to be proud of? To do that, we all need to be on the World Fit Team. Please join us today.

Yours in Health,

Gary Hall Sr.

Gary Hall Sr.
Olympian, Swimming 1968, 1972 and 1976

Last weekend the USOC hosted the Olympic Assembly, a gathering of the entire family of partner organizations behind the Olympic movement in the United States. I have attended the Assembly before, but this time it was different. Never before can I recall that there has been the sense of unity and inclusion among all of these organizations. Never before can I recall sensing such hope and optimism for the future of the Olympic movement. Never before has the USOC shown the transparency and kind of leadership it is now displaying.

Behind all of this positive change is the new CEO of the USOC, Scott Blackmun. I met him for the first time last week. He and his wife, Ann, invited many Olympians over to his house on Saturday, after the Assembly had ended. Scott had also attended the meeting of the United States Olympians the day before, along with USOC Chairman Larry Probst, where, for the first time, rather than giving a ‘state of the union address’, he actually listened. It was refreshing. His answers to our questions gave the impression of someone who genuinely cares about the Olympians; not just the ones still winning medals, but all Olympians.

Scott appreciates just how valuable the Olympians are to the USOC and its objectives. He readily admits it and is taking steps to bring the Olympians closer to the Olympic movement in America. While only at the helm for less than a year, Scott has come to understand what each member of the large USOC family wants and needs, while still managing to stay very focused on the core mission of the USOC and reaching its objectives.

While one could hardly criticize the past leaders of the USOC if judging by our success on the Olympic playing field, we have not been quite so successful in other areas. Disputes over television revenue and other reasons had led to a deterioration in our international Olympic relationships, culminating in an embarrassing first round elimination of our Chicago Olympic bid last fall. Scott Blackmun and Larry Probst have both taken on the assignment of improving those relationships and appear well on their way toward doing that.

Winning Olympic medals is important to every country in the Games, but there is more to it than that. The Olympics and its Olympians and Paralympians, and all the member organizations behind the Olympic movement, need to do more than just produce great athletes. We need to take on more social responsibility. Why? That is what the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, wanted and described in his vision for the Games and because we can make a difference. World Fit was well received … actually embraced by all of the members at the Assembly. It fits with the current desire of our Olympic leaders to do more than win medals. It fits with the current and significant need of our society. In an unprecedented move, the USOC will allow World Fit to display the Olympic Rings. We shall do so proudly. For the first time, World Fit is to become part of the Olympic family. Now it is time to go to work!

Micki King
Olympic Gold Medalist, Diving 1972

Fall is upon us and another school year is underway. I’m a long time “empty nest” mom these days, but still remember vividly the excitement my kids felt that first week of school: new friends, new teachers, new subjects, and new challenges.

As a parent, I liked getting back to the school year routine. That is, ME having the same window of time each day for ME. But, I also loved being involved with the kids’ school activities – the school play, the annual song fest, the read-a-thon each Fall and the Spring “School-Yard Sale” to raise money for these activities the next year.

I flash back to these times again this year, but with a new twist, based on the excitement I experienced with World Fit last spring.

I was the Community Leader for World Fit – 2010 in my town Lexington, Kentucky. I invited 2008 Track Olympian Tyson Gay – who grew up in Lexington – to join me as the Olympic role model and motivator. Tyson was great! He attended the Kick Off assemblies at both schools and joined the kids in their first walking sessions on each campus.

The Lexington schools were 2 of 17 pilot schools that proved World Fit works. And, WOW, how it DID work at both my middle schools, Winburn and Beaumont. Over the WF six week programs, the 1000 kids at Beaumont walked an average six miles a day. The 600 kids at Winburn averaged four miles a day in six weeks!!

I am proud to say, these two schools finished first and second overall among the 17 pilots. We are very, very proud of this achievement and intend to stay at the top. Now, as I review notes from last year and begin preparing for World Fit 2011, I see one big thing missing from Lexington’s wonderful experience – parents.

We missed the participation by parents. World Fit encourages parents to walk by allowing them to share distances family members walk together. But, this didn’t happen as we hoped. This year we want parents!! Just as parents join in the annual song festival and help with the school play – World Fit is a perfect activity for the families to “jump in.” World Fit is getting kids outdoors and moving. Our hope is to get Moms and Dads out there with them.

Magnus Liljedahl
Gold medal in sailing, US Olympic team in Sydney 2000

I’m stoked to be a part of the World Fit movement and be able to share some of my thoughts on health & fitness with all of you.

I grew up in Goteborg, Sweden, where the winter was dark and cold. I played Ice-hockey like most of the other kids. The summers were short but with lots of day light. I tried some Track & Field and soccer, but sailing became my sport. You may not know much about sailing, but it is a lot of fun.
It has rules and regulations that everyone has to follow, but in difference to most other sports, they are self-policed. Nowadays referees and judges are present at all major events, but they didn’t exist as I was growing up. It was a honor system where the competitors enforced the rules themselves. If you wanted to cheat, you could, but not many did.

This may serve as an analogy for what we all face as far as our health and fitness. There are tens of thousands of food choices that we can make. Some are healthy and some are not. No one will tell you what to eat and when, at least not all the time. The burden of doing the right thing falls on us, hence, it becomes self-policed. Exercising and working out is much the same. We can choose to do it on a regular basis or not. It’s up to each individual to “police’ their own workout regimen. It becomes the Honor System Applied!

It is fair to say that most top athletes, actors, artists and highly educated people achieved what they did because they were self-motivated. They knew what they wanted; they had a dream, a vision and a goal. They worked hard and diligently to achieve their objectives. Like you, they sure
had a role model for inspiration and someone likely helped facilitate their journey. They ended up with fame, glory and a fan base like you and me. It was their choice what they wanted to do. They could have cheated and lied to themselves, but they didn’t. They were self-motivated and eventually reached their full potential.

You too have a choice, you can either start or continue to make healthy choices for yourself, or not. If you do, you can reach your highest goals, have a healthy life and gain tremendous benefits that will last you a life time. If you don’t, no one will
really care, except possibly those really close to you, like your family and perhaps your best friend.

Stay Healthy and Happy

Dick Tillman
1976 Olympian (Sailing), 2002 World Laser Masters Champion

I have 9 grandchildren, age 7-15. Should be easy to speak to 300 7^th and 8^th graders about physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle, right?  Well, as it turned out, my first experience doing this, to promote Gary Hall’s WorldFit program, was most rewarding. The kids were attentive, motivated, and so far have been doing quite well logging their miles, either from walking or applying equivalent sports activity miles. It helped that their PE instructors and teachers were 100% onboard to explain how the system worked, help them sign a couple of forms, get logged on, and encourage them to get out and walk.

Of course, it doesn’t get much better than springtime in Florida to get out and enjoy some outdoor activities. As I related my own Olympic experience to them, they were amazed when I told them it took 16 years to achieve my goal of getting on the Olympic Team.  Came close in the 1960 sailing qualification trials – 2^nd alternate. Trained hard but was disappointed in the ‘64 trials. Missed the’68 trials while serving in the Armed Forces in Europe. Tried again in ‘72, no luck, and then finally earned a spot in 1976, but only as one of the two alternates. Still, a goal accomplished. A rather extreme example of persistence, but I hope a message not lost on a12 year old. Now 73, I am not through competing.

The West Shore kids are doers. Their middle school is the first in the county to participate in WorldFit. Their participation rate is one of the highest in the country. It is our hope that they will be a benchmark for what is becoming a physical fitness phenomenon for the entire country. Maybe one or two future Olympians?