Fight to Win (Race of My Life) Herman Meyer
McVittie 1
Fight to Win The two novels pivot around that central theme, strength of character. The first novel, ”The Race of my Life” is an autobiography by alpine ski racer, Herman Meyer. The second book “Fighter” was a biography of George St-Pierre, a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. Two contemporary, highly skilled athletes in completely unrelated sports. Both are at the top of their game and are face with a large obstacle that they will have to overcome to proceed with their career.
You are ultimately only as strong as you character. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but when faced with adversity, it is only those with supreme sense of character that will come out on top. Hermann Maier is on top, winning world cup as well as Olympic gold in his sport, downhill alpine ski racing. He has been consistently breaking records with grace and speed through hard work and natural talent. But in the summer of 2001 Hermann Maier’s skiing career comes to a screeching halt.
It is not just a question of “will he race again? ”, but “will he survive and will he ever walk again? ”. The accident didn’t occur during a death defying ski race, but instead on a break from training out cruising on his custom made Harley Davidson motorcycle. The near fatal motorcycle crash breaks his leg so badly, almost to the point of amputation and Maier is in the Intensive Care Unit battling infections as a result of a 9 hour reconstructive surgery to peace his leg back together.
Maier speaks of waking up after surgery, not knowing if he still has a leg. “during a ski race, a split second will make the difference between victory or defeat. But now much more was at stake. ”(Hermann. Page 1) This gives you some insight as to how bad the situation really was. Not unlike Hermann, George St-Pierre’s (GSP) career may also be in jeopardy. Having fought to get to the top in the vicious sport known as MMA, Mixed martial arts, Saint Pierre has achieved the title, the gold belt.
He is the first MMA fighter to receive mainstream corporate sponsorship and endorsement deals. He is sitting in the number one position for his weight class when the unexpected happens. GSP is challenged to protect his position in a title fight against welterweight champ GJ Penn. Penn who holds the title in the next weight class up from GSP. Penn wants to drop down to light weight division to fight the number one ranked GSP. “Just when I thought I was on top of it all, Penn announces that he will be dropping a weight class to fight me for my belt. (GSP. Page 26)
If GSP looses this fight, not only will he lose the belt and the tile, there are fortunes to be lost in endorsements and revenue from future fights. Both Maier and GSP who have achieved success in their sport, are faced with dealing with a possibly career ending situation. Neither sport is for the weak minded and they have fought long and hard, through focused and disciplined training to get where they are in their careers. They will have to muster all the strength in their character to overcome such adversity now.
