Small Business Boomers

John Dane III has overcome a lot, including Hurricane Katrina, to get to the Beijing Olympics.
Dane, who is 58, has a PhD from Tulane and owns a yacht company that was in the path of Hurricane Katrina. He lost both his home and his business in that devastating event. He rebuilt his company, which is bigger and better than ever.
In the meantime, Dane has been trying to get the Olympics for 40 years! Finally, racing with his son-in-law Austin Sperry, he managed to get a berth (couldn’t resist the pun) on the U.S. Sailing …read more

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Laurie Lever is a typical rider; he started riding at the age of 10 and he has competed internationally for decades. It just took him this long to find a great horse to help him get to the Olympics. Talk about determination.
Lever is the oldest Australian Olympic athlete in Beijing, and he says he has been surprised that people are noting his age. He says:
“It’s been amazing the number of people who have come up to me and said ‘Good on you Laurie, there’s hope for us yet,’” Lever said.
“… nowadays as you get older we are …read more

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Brent Erickson has a story of comeback that will stop your heart.
Brent returns to the Olympics as a three-time Olympian. Brent, 48, from Bennington, Nebraska, has been shooting since he was 10, and his list of medals in Trap and Double Trap in national and world championships is impressive. He grew up shooting with his father and brothers, but in 1999, Brent’s father died and he lost his desire to shoot.
Here is his heart-stopping story. Literally, his heart stopped while he was training for the Athens Olympics in 2004, but he recovered and …read more

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He’s a little too old (age 67) to be a Baby Boomer, but Olympic athlete Hiroshi Hoketsu has a great story to tell, as he returns to Olympic competition in Beijing after 44 years.
Hoketsu competed in 1964 in dressage, then got busy with work. It was only when he retired that he decided to go back and compete.
I love these inspiring stories of determination, fortitude, and just plain hard work, that surround the Olympics. We see too little of this in our daily lives, and I for one would like to know more people …read more

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Not all Olympic athletes are young men and women. Many are our age, and older. Over the course of the next few weeks, while the Olympics are going on, I’ll share with you some stories about Baby Boomers who are competing as Olympic athletes.
Today’s story is a sad one. Karen O’Connor, an equestrian who was a medal hopeful, had to give up her dream of competing in Beijing. Her beloved pony Teddy suffered an injury and had to be euthanized immediately. So, undaunted, she found another horse and competed in the U.S. Olympic …read more

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