FUTURE OLYMPIANS

Four local Olympic hopefuls leap and pedal toward a golden goal.

Before they can bask in the glory of the Olympics, many world-class athletes have spent their youth in intense preparation and wistful dreaming. Children's Express recently talked to four potential Olympic athletes about how they live, train and handle their aspirations.

Carrie Maultsby

Growing up isn't easy when you're a 15-year-old figure skater with your eyes on the Olympics.

Getting up at 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning to practice before school, and not having a lot of free time later, are some of the things that Carrie Maultsby deals with daily.

When Children's Express last interviewed her, Carrie Maultsby was 13 and living with an Indianapolis family so she could train at the Indiana/World Skating Academy. Since then, her mother has moved here from Florida and runs a boarding house for other skaters.

Andy and Greg Carlson

Andy Carlson, 18, follows the leader when it comes to cycling. The leader in this case is his older brother Greg, 22.

Greg started cycling in 1986.

"Our next-door neighbor liked to ride a bike a lot. And I picked up this bike and bought it from him, a 10-speed

"The next year, I took out a license, which was under the governing body of the United States Biking Federation. And it just took off from there."

"I started in 1987," added Andy. "You know, older brother . . . he was cool, and I wanted to be like him."

But when you put them on the same race track, it's all but following the leader. Both brothers are on the U.S. national team and have the Olympics as well as the Pan Am Games on their minds.

Matt Kessinger

For 18-year-old Matt Kessinger, figure skating has had its ups and downs. The ups are when he's skating; the downs are when he tries to fit many different things into his life.

Matt got his start in Louisville, Ky., at the age of 8. When he was 13, he and his family moved to Indianapolis.

"I went to a competition with my sister, and she won a medal, and that's kind of what started me skating, 'cause I wanted a medal," he said.

Matt has won plenty of medals. He's competed in national competition four times and was named the 1993 National Junior Men's Silver Medalist.

"My parents are very involved with my skating, especially lately. I've got a lot of big competitions that went on just last year. And they've been really, really supportive."

Future Olympians

Carrie, Matt, Andy and Greg are Olympic hopefuls. They also have received support from the Future Olympians program - Carrie and Matt in 1993, Andy and Greg this year as well.

The program was started in 1988 by the Indiana Sports Corp. to provide funding to amateur athletes who have the talent to be on an Olympic team.

Funds for the Future Olympians are raised at the annual Youthlinks Indiana Celebrity Golf Tournament, which is sponsored by the sports corporation and Indiana Black Expo. Since 1988, Youthlinks has raised more than $2 million, with about $400,000 going to the Future Olympians programs.

Grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 are made to help cover the costs of living expenses, training equipment, travel to competitive events and medical expenses related to the competition. Participants in all Olympic sports are eligible.

Applicants must be Indiana residents and be nominated by somebody affiliated with the Indiana High School Athletic Association, the National Collegiate Athletic Association or a local or national governing body for any Olympic sport.

Funding is based on financial need and athletic ability, as measured by participation in national and international competitions, training camps, awards and special achievements related to their sport.

Grants are made for one year only, but athletes can re-apply each year.

Children's Express recently talked to these four athletes about their sports, aspirations and lives.

SCHOOL

ANDY: I'll be going to the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and I'll be living at the Olympic Training Center there, which will give me a better opportunity to train at the altitude which helps to improve your lung capacity.

CARRIE: (I go to) Lawrence North. I think you need to go to school, and you need to train. . . . Skating's not everything. You might only skate till you're in your 20s or 30s.

MATT: I graduated from high school last year. I'm majoring in psychology. I want to get into sports psychology. I go to IUPUI. College was quite a wake-up call 'cause it's so much responsibility. Everything is on you. It's not like high school where you have the teacher saying, "Get this, get this."

GREG: I go to Indiana University. During the summer, I really like to train in Indianapolis, because we have a great velodrome.

TRAINING

ANDY: With school you definitely don't have a lot of time to train. But you have to make the best of the time you've got.

GREG: You get more opportunities (at college). There's a good collegiate cycling program that's starting out.

MATT: All morning is school and then the afternoon is skating. And then, evenings usually, we have off-ice classes, where you do jazz, ballet, and weight training and what-not. And then, when we get home, it's usually school work.

CARRIE: There are some skaters who don't go to school and just train. And when the skating is done, they don't have good social skills. They don't know how to relate with people. They're very shy.

COMPETITION

MATT: (I would not go) as far as Tonya Harding. The farthest I would go is just to really work my butt off and train as hard as I could. And just skate the best I could.

I think a lot of it is dedication to the sport. You want to take it as far as you can.

GREG: (Andy and I) race against each other all the time. But since we do different events, I don't feel a lot of pressure.

ANDY: We race together every Saturday night through the summer. And if it's a longer race, I'll do better than him; if it's a shorter race, he'll do better than me.

CARRIE: Some people, when they compete against their friends, they don't talk to their friends and they treat them really bad. But us around here, we're not like that. . . . We just cheer for each other.

MATT: That's been really cool this year. 'Cause all the guys that I compete against, we all seem to be pretty close friends. And I think it's helped out a lot.

I think it's better when you're friends. 'Cause when you're in practice or in competition, you're not out to kill that person. You're behind that person. And that relieves the tension, especially in practice.

SOCIAL LIFE

MATT: The free time we have is usually over the weekends. And we just try to relax and get away. We don't really do a whole lot.

CARRIE: Usually I have time to go out on weekends. Some of us skaters will go to the movies. . . . We're closest with each other. 'Cause we all live together, like a family.

ANDY: We both made the choice to train a lot and compete. And it's worth it. We get a lot out of it. And we have a lot of friends through cycling. So it's not as if we're social outcasts anymore. We used to be but not anymore.

CARRIE: A lot of school kids know us as "the skaters." But sometimes I wish I knew more of them. I know the school kids like associates, where I say, "Hi." But I wish we could have time to get to know them better.

GREG: We just hang out and see our friends on the weekend, just like what everyone else does during school.

During the summer, it's really tough, because we try to race all over the country. So your social life does kind of drop off.

ROLE MODELS

GREG: Mark Gorski I admire, you know, for what he's done. He won the Olympic gold medal in 1984. He's probably the best cyclist (our country has) ever had.

ANDY: Plus he's so involved in cycling. He works for the United States Cycling Federation right now. He's a good guy.

CARRIE: I just like Midori Ito or Tonya Harding. I like them because they're strong jumpers and they have style - when you watch them, they're so fast, it's just amazing.

(Carrie added in a later letter to CE: "Tonya's involvement in the attack on Nancy Kerrigan was tragic and unacceptable but does not and should not diminish her skating accomplishments.")

MATT: I wouldn't say that I have one specific role model. I like Scott Davis a lot - I like his skating a lot. And one I've really watched a lot is Paul Wylie - he has a lot of style in skating.

GOALS

GREG: I'm working for the Olympics right now. That and the world championships and the Pan Am Games are definitely the highlights I'm working for. And then hopefully, if everything works out, we can race professionally sometime after that.

ANDY: The thing about cycling is that even the best cyclists don't win that many races. . . . A good cyclist in Europe will race maybe 100 to 120 races a year and will win maybe only five or 10 races. And that's still an incredible season.

MATT: I think the Olympics means a lot to any athlete. You know, ultimately, everyone wants to go to the Olympics. And definitely, it's a goal for everyone. But right now, I'm just trying to set some little goals and accomplish what I can.

CARRIE: Well, if I make the Olympics I really would be opening the door (for other African-Africans).

Debi Thomas kind of opened the door for other skaters to make the national level, you know. No other African-American skaters have made the Olympics after Debi Thomas.

EDITED BY: Tanisa Strong, 17