and an elite athlete who won 12 medals, eight gold,
while competing in the 1992, ’96, 2000 and ’04
Olympic Games—I had not heard of the football
player/doctor until recently. I don’t really follow
the NFL. I didn’t know that, after being drafted
by the Chiefs in 2014, he balanced his football
career with studying at McGill University’s medi-
cal school, graduating during the 2018 offseason.
But on a baseline level I can understand and em-
pathize with the choices he had to make and the
duality of his existence.
When I heard about him, I felt a bit of camara-
derie, even though we’ve never met. Back when
I was still training for the Olympics, I went to
medical school at Columbia. And I came to under-
stand the tricky balance of competing at the high-
est level in sports while also studying toward a
medical degree. I believe we look at those scales
in a similar way, in that I am a better doctor and
a better swimmer because I desired to do both,
because I didn’t pick one over the other, because
I sought that exact balance in my life.
I had applied to medical school in 1999, while
training for the 2000 Olympics, knowing I would
ultimately defer my enrollment to attempt a third
Olympics. After those Games, I retired from swim-
ming. My late mom, Margrid Thompson, was diag-
nosed with esophageal cancer, and I moved to
New Hampshire to help take care of her, knowingI would start medical school in August 2001. Just
after I moved to New York City to attend Columbia,
9/11 happened. Like Laurent, I can identify with
training in medicine amid a major public crisis
having just reached athletic glory a short time be-
fore. I did a lot of soul searching that year, with my
mom and school and the incredible response to a
horrible tragedy. In many ways, that year aff irmed
for me why I chose healing as a profession in the
first place. I imagine Laurent feels similarly, too.
I ended up swimming again for my mental
health around that time. Finishing lap after lap
after lap became therapeutic for me, like a re-
lease, a way to relax. I started practicing with
my coach every day, then began to compete in
meets for fun. Eventually, I qualified for nation-
als, and because my mom always enjoyed my
swimming, I kept going, which is how I ended
up back in the world championships and a fourth
Olympic Games. I hope that Laurent can reachS O
T Y
HIS CHOICE WAS
DIFFICULT
BUT A DMIR A BLE,
IN THE MOST
STAGGER ING WAY.
A NEW
FACE MASK
Duvernay-Tardif
followed his
Super Bowl win
by opting to work
as an orderly at
a long-term care
facility in the
Montreal area,
near where he
grew up.