Letter to the Editor

The Wall Street Journal ran an article on December 6th titled, "A Venture Capitalist Invests in His Olympic Dream." (Click here to see article text...highly recommended.) To summarize it in one sentence: When Paul Bragiel, a 36-year-old technology entrepreneur, had a hungover revelation that he should quit his job and try to do something he was scared of, he set his sites on finding "the easiest way" into the Olympics, and subsequently hired a Finnish cross-country ski coach, learned to ski, became a Colombian citizen in order to take advantage of their less rigorous qualification standards, trained like a pro skier for nine months, and though his first races of the season were well off qualification pace and his coach only gave him a 1% chance of success, Bragiel professed to the author of the article, "I believe I will make it."

The Journal never published my letter, so I'll share it here. For the record I have no personal ill will towards Mr. Bragiel; on the contrary, my position is strictly limited to, "Go for it, dude." My intention was to take issue with a number of principles that the publication of this article endorsed, including, but not limited to the fallacy that a person can start from scratch and qualify for the Olympics in cross-country skiing in less than one year. Mr. Bragiel learned that the hard way.

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To the Editor:

Paul Bragiel should stick to venture capital; Olympic cross-country skiing is more like a treasury bond, minus the payout.

The cross-country skiing community is very welcoming, and as a member of it, I am pleased my sport helped engender a healthy lifestyle change for Paul Bragiel, who gave up being a "chunky and out of shape nerd" in exchange for being a super fit, spandex-clad nerd, at least for a year. However, the Olympic community should look less favorably on Mr. Bragiel.

First and foremost, Mr. Bragiel makes a joke of Olympic athletes with his nine-month commitment to a dream that genuine hopefuls pursue over the course of ten to twenty years, or more. I admire his "irrational optimism," but Olympic dreams-come-true are built on more than just wishful thinking. Mr. Bragiel would have seen a better return on his $50,000 if he had invested in the Olympic dreams of athletes who are truly dedicated, many of whom are desperate for financial support.

Second, Mr. Bragiel makes a joke of the Olympic spirit. The special qualification standard for citizens of countries without a tradition in cross-country skiing was not intended for an American venture capitalist on a gap year, whose personal connection with a foreign president afforded him alternative citizenship. His abuse of this standard is the political version of doping. Worst of all, he makes a joke of those whose only dream is a better life in a different country.

Mr. Bragiel is right about one thing: the Olympics do "represent one of the awesomest things about humanity." But that is precisely because of athletes unlike him, who devote several decades of their lives to pushing the physical and mental limits of humankind. Throug honest work, they earn the right to march proudly in the opening ceremony, to represent their countries, and to engage in the ultimate global gathering of peaceful competition. The bottom line is, if you set out to find "the easiest way," you will never end up at the Olympic Games.

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