Most Olympic athletes heading to Vancouver next month tend to downplay their expectations.
You know, the typical aw-shucks Canadian thing. They'll just do their best, and see where they wind up.
Kyle Parrott, the speed skating pride of Minnedosa, Man., is a little different.
Just 24, Parrott wants more than just experience in his first Olympics.
"My goal actually switched a little bit," Parrott told the Sun. "From making the Olympics to getting a medal at the Olympics. I'm not afraid to say it."
Seems Parrott's not afraid of much, least of all pressure.
Maybe it's because he's surrounded by medal contenders like Christine Nesbitt, Kristina Groves, Clara Hughes, Jeremy Wotherspoon and Denny Morrison on the Canadian team. Most of the pressure is on them, not on the upstart from rural Manitoba.
Or maybe that's just the way he is.
To hear Parrott tell it, the bigger the game, the better he is.
"Historically, the more pressure that gets put onto me, the better I'll do," he said. "An example is the Olympic trials. I did better than I've ever done before, and it was because there was more pressure put onto me and more people watching."
So, what, we should pile on the pressure?
"Pile it on. For sure."
One of the youngest skaters to make the senior national team, Parrott began to realize a year ago that he was on to something special, finishing seventh in a couple of 1,000-metre World Cup races.
That's when he began thinking he could push into the top three in the world.
In Vancouver, Parrott will compete in the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 metres.
If it seems like he's come out of nowhere to make the Olympics, it's because, basically, he has.
"My development was really fast," Parrott acknowledged. "I made the senior Canadian team when I was 19 years old, where the average is probably 21, 22 years old."
He might not get the headlines his teammates do.
But that'll change the first time he climbs up on a podium.
So why not in Vancouver?
"Everyone who's at the Olympics has the goal of getting a medal," Parrott reasoned. "Some people's goals are more realistic goals than others. Some people haven't fully sat down and thought about it.
"I honestly think if I put together a really good performance, a real solid race, there is a possibility of getting a medal. I know when I go out there I'm going to have a good performance."
So there.
Remember the name.
It's going to be around a while.
SAFE AND SOUND: Good news from Blue Bombers running back Yvenson Bernard, who's spent a frantic few days this week trying to track down family members in Haiti.
Bombers media relations co-ordinator Darren Cameron reports that Bernard's eight-year-old half-brother, Sebastian Bernard, is safe and sound, along with his mother.
Bernard, whose uncle lost his legs in the quake, set up a Haiti relief fund through the International Sports Agency this week (www.helpisakids.com/donations.htm).
PROFESSOR UPDATE: Former Blue Bombers head coach Mike Kelly has a minimum four weeks of anger management treatment ahead of him if he wants his domestic assault charge dropped.
"The course is usually four to six weeks depending on which one is chosen," Wallis Brooks, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted Kelly's case in Pennsylvania, told the Sun.
Brooks says Kelly also must avoid all contact with the victim and her family, if the charge is to be dropped.
The case has been continued for another 90 days, but could wrap up sooner.
LATE ON THE DRAW? Anybody else get the feeling the Bombers are being beaten to the punch for the best head coaching candidates by the Toronto Argos?
Contact Paul at paul.friesen@sunmedia.ca or 632-2788.
