The Wright Genes

Aug 15, 2008

She likes to think of herself as just another face in the crowd, but when watching her sons Anthony and Philip Wright play field hockey on the Canadian team, Thelma Wright is a true mom. She winces behind her shuttered fingers when her kids are injured and she springs to her feet when they score. She and husband Lee Wright will watch their sons compete in Beijing at the Olympic Games this week.

Thelma has a good idea of the pressure her sons may face. She remembers the courage it took to face her own Olympic dream. At the Munich 1972 Olympic Games the 20-year-old track runner emerged from a small holding pen behind the stadium where she had tried to avoid the glares of other competitors. She was led to the stadium under the intent gaze of the largest track-and-field audience she’d ever seen. As she went through her final preparation before the starting gun, Thelma felt waves of nausea and anxiety so deep she could barely open her eyes. Fortunately, she was able to snap out of her daze when the starting gun fired for her first 1,500-metre Olympic race. And fortunately, she believes her sons are better prepared to face those tense situations as they embark on their own Olympic journey during Beijing 2008.

Thelma, Anthony, Philip and Lee Wright at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Anthony and Philip are well known for their athletic talents among Canadian field hockey families. Also well known are the talents of their Olympian grandfather Harold Wright (1932 Games, track and field); their father Lee Wright (1964 and 1976 Games, field hockey); and their accomplished track-and-field mother Thelma (1972, 1976 Games, track). All five have represented Canada.

In the stands
Being a mom in the stands takes guts. If you ask Thelma, it’s not easy watching your children compete.

“It’s interesting. I think it’s way more difficult to watch than to participate. Even though I played field hockey and coached all through high-school level, they still say ‘mom, you know nothing’,” laughs Thelma, who admits she doesn’t over-analyze the sport as her husband does.

Anthony Wright
I can just watch like any interested spectator,” Wright continues. “In one way, that’s good and in another, it’s still your children and you still want the best for them.”

Watching his sons compete in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games may be more intense for Lee Wright, having introduced his sons to the sport and been their first coach.

Sunday Practices versus Sunday Dinners

A family of Olympians understands sacrifice. Anthony, Philip and their two sisters — Lindsay, a rhythmic gymnast and Gillian, a track athlete — chose the sporting life on their own. Their parents always supported that decision. As the coordinator for Run Jump and Throw in British Columbia, and an elected member to the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) Cross Country Committee, Thelma also has her own commitments to sport that go beyond the office.

Harold Wright, 1932.
“We let them play as many sports as possible,” says Thelma. “I really believe the multi-sport approach is the way. Then the choices are made by the 15 or 16 year old.”

There's no special formula for raising champions, but Thelma and Lee wanted their kids to choose their own sports and their own friends. So, what does it take to support your children, to help them reach an elite level in their chosen sports?

“The love of sport or just the willingness to forgo the Sunday family dinner,” explains Thelma. “We don’t often have a family vacation since somebody’s got a camp or a track meet to go to."

Her family wouldn't have approached things any differently, whether their children had wanted to excel in sports, music or in the academic field. Becoming an Olympian might have something to do with genes, but it also has something to do with how you're raised.