It has not only become a mantra around the Utah Olympic Oval ever since, but it has served as the daily reminder of what’s around the corner. The story, told to the athletes this summer by former Olympic speedskater and medalist Joey Cheek, was about a Japanese skater who, in the months leading up to the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, trained every day in the wardrobe he’d eventually wear at the Games.
While others were training more nonchalantly, Cheek explained, the Japanese skater didn’t break character. When Cheek asked him what prompted the approach to training, he told him, “Every day Olympics.