Holy Trinity Catholic School students got an inspiring visit earlier this fall from Rio 2016 Olympian Sage Watson.
The Medicine Hat-born athlete specializes in 400-metre hurdles and most recently placed fifth at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
Watson spoke at the school after visiting her friend Danielle Fernetti, a Grade 2 teacher.
“She asked me since I was out visiting if I would do it for the school and I said, 'for sure,'” Watson said.
The focus of the presentation was going after your dreams, finding passions and how important practice is if you want to be good at something.
“I just try to give a positive message to get them to start thinking about their future and to start finding what they’re passionate about at a young age so that they can start practising, or start getting involved in different activities,” said Watson.
Watson enjoys speaking at schools and inspiring youth.
“I find it very enjoyable because I don’t find there’s any pressure with talking in front of a group of kids because I know my message is positive and I just have to have fun with it,” said Watson.
Holy Trinity student Shyanne Kennedy was in attendance and enjoyed the experience.
"I liked it because she came in and started talking about her life, career and how she was doing hurdles almost her whole life," said Kennedy.
Kennedy was excited to meet an Olympian for the first time and was inspired by what Watson had to say.
"Her speech just made me feel so confident. I'm a volleyball player and it made me want to do volleyball for my whole life and never stop," Kennedy said.
Watson loves the question and answer section of her presentations.
“I get a lot from that -- hearing their questions and what they’re interested in -- because that allows me to adjust my presentation for the next group," Watson said.
“The question and answer part is really important because then they can ask me questions that relate directly to them, or questions about the Olympics, or how I got to where I was,” she said.
Watson is starting training for the 2019 World Championship of Athletes in Doha, Qatar and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
