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PAGE A2, WHITBY FREE PRESS, Olympic Special, SEPTEMBER 14, 1988 * WHITBY OLYM PlANScss THE SEOUL EXPERIENCE Parents' perspective By Debbie Luchuk As the parents of an Olympic athlete, it is exciting and scary at the same time, according to the Strongs. "I'm excited," says Bill Strong, father of top Canadian female gymnast Lori Strong. "It's some- thing she's worked for, for 10 years, and the culmination of a lot of hard work on her behalf." "I'm a little scared," said moth- er Gail Strong. "The contact is not there as there is at at regular meet. We won't be able to get to her (because of security) and there's a feeling of being out of control." Bill noted that this trip to Seoul will be the longest that Lori has ever been away from home. When asked when they knew Lori would be an Olympie con- tender, Gail said, "When she got on the plane on Monday." Bill said he knew that Lori had Olympic potential when she was 10 and was the youngest medal winner ever at the Canadian Nationals (third place). There was a controversy over Lori's participation in national training levels while participating in the provincial competitions, and her coach told her parents that national training was neces. sary for a gymnast of her poten- tial. Lori started in gymnastics wheh she was five years old. "The little girl up the street used to » play with her, doing cartwheels and the splits. "This girl belonged to a club and suggested that Lori join. Al she had to do was chin-ups for the pre-competition level, and she tried out and made the pre-- competition team," Gail said. Strong is a very "focused" ath- lete, according to her parents, and will hold everything "inside" before a competition. "She competes against herself more than anybody else, and she is oblivious to scores. At Rotter- dam (the world championships), she didn't know where she was, what her score was," Bill said. "She wants to do what she's been taught to do, and do it to the best of her ability," Gail added. Seoul will not be a very foreign place to Strong, as she has already competed in Asia five times, and has travelled exten- sively from a young age. "She started travelling inter- nationally so young, before she was on the Canadian National team. She has been just about everywhere in the world," Bill said. Strong's parents will be with Lori in Seoul, staying at the Olympic Family Village where 70 to 80 per cent of the Canadian parents are staying.in hotel-like accommodation. The village is 15 minutes away from the Olympic Park and five minutes from the gym centre, and Strong's parents will have to ob- tain a pass to see their daughter in her accommodation. Bill and Gail said that their sons, Scott and Christopher, have been supportive of their sister's efforts. "I think it's been easy for them to handle her fame, although a lot of our life is centered around her activities," Bill said. Strong's par- ents have travelled across Can- ada with Lori's competitions and have accompanied her, at rather large expense, to various overseas competitions. Strong has managed to main- tain a high B average in her high school courses, despite three af- ternoons of training a week. "These kids are generally ded- icated to everything they do," Bill said, implying that athletes like Lori don't suffer academically from the timemissed through training and travelling. Fellow Anderson student Lori Melien, also heading for Seoul for SEE PAGE A3 BUIL, GAIL AND LORI STRONG