'Make it Happen': Olympic champion Kyle Shewfelt pens first book, aims to inspire coaches and athletes
Kyle Shewfelt knows what it's like to win an Olympic gold medal. He did it at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece, making him Canada's first and only Olympic gymnastics champion.
He also now knows what it's like to be an author.
Shewfelt penned his first book, Make It Happen: My Story of Gymnastics, the Olympics, and the Positive Power of Sport, which hit book shelves last week.
Shewfelt says he lived by the phrase, 'Make It Happen,' in the 2004 games.
"For me it's a really monumental phrase that I used when I stepped onto the floor in Athens on that day when I won an Olympic gold medal," Shewfelt told CTV.
"It was a grounding phrase and it made me feel present. It made me feel ready and it allowed me to just go and let the work do its thing."
OVERCOMING OBSTACLES
The book isn't just about his Olympic triumph. It also talks about some of the obstacles Shewfelt had to face through his life.
It wasn't easy for Shewfelt but he says it was important they be included in the book.
"I had a bully in high school. I had injury and I suffered severe depression when I retired from the sport, and I share all of these things in the hopes that it can open up a conversation and it can be better for the future generation and I think by sharing my story I hope I can help."
PUTTING IN THE WORK
Shewelt believes you should never give up on your dreams, no matter what you face in life. He didn't and that's the reason why he's an Olympic champion.
He says you have to be willing to put the work in and you have to be persistent.
"I try to share experience of actually being in the gym and what it felt like to learn that big release skill," Shewfelt said.
"It wasn't just that I learned it, I try to take people into those moments of the three months going up every single day with bleeding hands. And how that persistence did pay off."
POSITIVE EXPERIENCE
Shewfelt had a great coach and parents that supported him every step of the way. He believes there's a way to get the most out of an athlete. He's also hoping people can learn some things from reading his book.
"The journey needs to be Athlete driven. It needs to be parent and coach supported and that you can read the top of sport in a really positive and nurturing environment," he said.
"I hope that the stories that my coach and parents created in my career, I hop that that really shines off the page and highlights that positive experience."
Shewfelt's book is available at Indigo and Chapters book stores.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.