member pbreorfile
The
road
to gold
KEN BROMAN
Costcomembers
go for the glory
Tony Azevedo has
used his drive to overcome many physical
and fiscal obstacles.
JEFF SHEWMON
THERE ARE MANY routes to the Olympics. For some Costco
members, the path involves carrying the banner of the USA as
oneof thedominantathletesintheirsport. Othersparticipateinsupporting
roles that may receive less attention, but are no less important, as coaches,
physicians, trainers and more. For the next few issues, leading up to the
August 2008 Olympics in Beijing, The Connection would like to share the
stories of Costco members who are on the road to gold.
Pooling his
resources
Champion coach
THE MODERN PENTATHLON is not the
most well-known Summer Olympics event,
but Costco member Michael Cintas says it’s the
most difficult because a different set of physical
and psychological skills is needed for each
activity. The five-part event comprises shooting, fencing, swimming, riding and running.
Cintas, the U.S. coach for the equestrian
portion, says one of the main challenges is
that the athletes have just 20 minutes to meet
their horse and practice no more than five
jumps before they compete—jumping 15
obstacles. He’s been coaching the team since
2003, but has been riding horses for 50 of his
60 years.
Passionate about “our big equine friends”
for as long as he can remember, Cintas tried
out for the Olympics at the age of 18 bu t
lacked the proper horse and sponsor to
make the equestrian team.
His passion for riding was derailed
in 1970 when an accident on a tuna-fishing boat severely damaged his left leg,
requiring 37 surgeries over the next 13
years. Despite extreme pain, Cintas continued to give lessons, ride and show
horses. But when a horse fell on his bad
leg in 1984, the limb was crushed and had
to be removed.
Despite doctor’s orders, Cintas was
working with horses within two weeks
and resumed riding as soon as he was fit-
ted with a prosthetic leg.
“It is a part of my body, and I accept it, ”
says Cintas of the prosthetic. “I don’t have to
worry about it getting a cut, sore or blister.”
Not one to let challenges slow him down,
Cintas has had more than 5,000 students in his
career. And with the Olympics just six months
away when The Connection caught up with
him, Cintas was looking forward to coaching
at nine competitions in Poland, England and
Hungary, among other locations, before heading to the Beijing Olympics.
“Horses and riding are passions that are
hard to describe,” says Cintas. “You eat, sleep,
drink and dream horses if you are in fact a
true horseman.”—Stephanie E. Ponder
Coach Michael Cintas puts his would-be
Olympians through their paces.
WITH A BACKGROUND like Costco
member Tony Azevedo’s, the real question would have been why wasn’t he in
the Olympics.
“My grandmother played basketball
for Brazil in the Olympics, my uncle was
a silver-medalist swimmer for Brazil and
my father has been a two-time Olympic
water polo coach,” says the captain of
the 2008 USA Olympic water polo team.
“It was at the ’96 Olympics in Atlanta,
where I was a ball boy, when I realized
that I wanted to be one of those guys
competing for their country.”
DONNA ANDREWS
It can be a long road from making the
decision to reaching one’s goal. At age 4,
Azevedo, who moved to the United States
from Brazil when he was just 23 days old,
suffered from a torn trachea and his heart
stopped beating for four minutes. Doctors
said he would never play sports. And
though balancing school and the
Olympics was an intense combination,
Azevedo says post-college training has
actually been more challenging.
“Many other sports provide players
opportunities to make a living playing
what they love,” he says. “In the USA,
water polo is not professional, and after
college our opportunities to continue
playing diminish. Many of the players
sacrifice great jobs and family stability to
continue with their dreams of winning a
gold medal.
“I was lucky enough to be surrounded by this since I was a kid,” continues Azevedo. “I’ve known since a
young age that I would sacrifice most
anything to continue my dreams.”
