World Champion, idol, role model, passionate, perseverance, incredible, and legend are just a few words that can be used to describe Jimmie Georgas. After getting the chance to know Jimmie over the years, I can also add that he is an inspiration, great guy and friend.
My admiration of Jimmie began some fifteen years ago after being inspired by the performance of a man (68 at the time) who laid the smack down on more than half of the assembled field. How fast was he? Just one year later at the 1996 World Duathlon Championships in Ferrara, Italy he went 2:09 at the International Duathlon Distance (10 km run – 39 minutes, 40 km bike – 64 minutes, 5 km run – 19:30, plus transition time), the time is a World record.
While proud of his many accomplishments, you would never find out about any of them unless you force him to tell you, which I did in writing this article. Here are a few of his long list of accomplishments: won 210 of 214 age group duathlons, 10 time World Champion, 14 time National and Provincial Duathlon Champion, was a member of the National Ski Team, competed in the Alpine World Championships, Ski Coach for many of Canada’s Alpine and Nordic teams, inducted into three Sports Halls of Fame, won 55 races as a Masters skier, and has won 256 medals in Masters Cycling Competitions.
Turning 83 on April 2, Jimmie was born in Owen Sound and was the fourth of ten children to parents who were from Sparta, Greece. He attributes his Spartan roots to his competitive nature and when one looks at his siblings one notices that sporting excellence runs in the family.
“My oldest brother George was a top golfer and competed in the 1940 Canadian Open in Toronto at Lambton Golf Course. A golf club was put in my hands at the age of ten, I caddied for my brother at all golf tournaments and later became a scratch handicap myself. My brother Louis was a National Ski Champion in 1939, was a member of the National Olympic Team and started me skiing when I was six years old and competing when I was thirteen years old.
Genetics may have something to do with Jimmie’s success but like many top athletes, hard work and consistency is the key. And despite his body condition (over 22 surgeries due to skiing and cycling crashes) and badly damaged knees, he plans on getting back his running shape so he can compete in the HSBC Series races, at the Provincial, National and World Championships, and at the Michigan Senior Olympics State Cycling Championships. But you would be mistaken if you thought that Jimmie plans on slowing down.
“I train six days weekly for six hours including warm ups, stretching, and cycling or running totaling approximately 36 hours weekly. Out of season I use a different program like skiing, golfing, snow shoeing, cross country skiing, running, but no cycling. My regimen includes weight lifting three times weekly. My philosophy is if you want to be a winner you have to push yourself all the time to achieve your goals.
Jimmie got into the sport of cycling after using it to rehab one of his many ski injuries, and his entry into duathlon was also accidental. He was racing in the Ontario Masters Cycling Series and had no idea what a duathlon was until a friend suggested that he give it a try. In 1992, he raced a sprint duathlon in Oakville, and won his age group in a memorable way.
“I started my race and because I had not been training for running, promptly pulled my calf muscle. I decided to keep going, finished the run, mounted my bike and worked the pain away because I was cycling very fast, picking up some time. On the second run I pulled the other calf muscle and limped along to the finish on one leg. When the results were posted I was approached by a man (the late World Champion Kurt Gelbhaar) and he said - You beat me by 27 seconds, you will never do it again." By the way, Kurt did beat Jimmie at their next encounter but never again after that.
As a 23 time World Champion in various sports, Jimmie can offer us a multitude of valuable insight and advice on how to pursue excellence. On top of recommending that we establish goals for ourselves, he also came up with the acronym SERIOUS.
“S - Strength Training in the fall, E - Endurance cycling, running long distances to develop cardiovascular fitness, R - Repetitions at high speeds, I - Intervals at maximum speed with short rests between, O - Over distances for each type of distance (i.e. for a 5 km race run 6 km), U - Up hill repeats several times, and S - Maximum speeds on the bike (start at 1 minute, rest over time, increase until you reach 40 km per hour).
Jimmie notes that he like racing in the HSBC Series because the organizers are friendly, take constructive criticism for improvements to heart, are always striving to please the athletes, and all the volunteers create a friendly atmosphere. He also likes how the series welcomes all ages.
“All ages are able to compete in categories against each other and there is no limit to how old you become. Other competitions seem to think that 65 plus athletes are finished, this is a myth as athletes are now competing at ages 90 plus in different competitions (running, cycling, track, golf, tennis, etc.).
As I enter my 15th year of multisport competition, I continue to admire Jimmie, marvel at his accomplishments, but most importantly it is a pleasure to call him a friend. Jimmie had a tough season last year due to crashes and knee problems (causing him to cancel his last seven races), but expects to come back strong this season. I look forward to being able to run alongside him during that first duathlon leg, and hopefully getting another invite for an overnight visit hang out with him and his lovely wife Barbara in Collingwood.