Krista Guloien 

It seems like time has been flying! Here comes another year. If we choose it can also be a fresh start and or a new chapter. 2016 is significant to me in many ways, but one way in particular. Another Olympic year is before us and it is kind of a trip that this will be the next summer Olympics beyond the summer games that I last competed. It is hard to believe that 4 years has past. It also feels like forever ago. It will be interesting to watch from the sidelines as a retired

I fell in love with rowing the first time I got in a boat, but what drove me to take it as far as I did? The answer is twofold. I was motivated and driven by the progress I made. I was encouraged by the relationship between the work I put in and my improvements. My team. Showing up for others and being a part of something bigger got me out of bed. More than the medal, more than the Olympics, rowing with a crew and reaching our collective potential became the driving force. Fr

It takes one to know one. I hope that my insights as someone who struggles with networking help you! Networking is a bit of a nightmare for me. I feel awkward walking into a room of people and introducing myself to strangers. I fear that people won’t want to talk to me, which is kind of silly if I am at a networking event, but nonetheless it is the feeling I get and it can be gripping. I am also more of an introvert than an extrovert and I find it extremely draining to put ou

In many ways it was all such a blur. You prepare day in and day out for every minute until you cross the finish line and beyond that is completely unscripted. Everything is fast paced, exciting and unpredictable. It is an amazing time. I remember trying to hang on to the moments as the fleeted by. I knew the speed with which it was all happening was going to make it hard to remember. My local newspaper was very supportive of me and my athletic journeys. I recall sitting in a

My first Olympics in 2008 didn't go exactly like I imagined or dreamed. Perhaps I was naive to how it would all go and or perhaps I underestimated how hard it would be. After we qualified the quad in 2007 I was introduced to sport organization politics and athlete injuries. I really couldn't know what I would learn until I crossed the finish line. I planned on seeing through one Olympics and retiring. Upon crossing the finish line I had a wave of new found perspective. I sudd

Images can express many things. For me, they express what I love, what is important to me, where I have been and where I am going. Family, sport, travel, fashion, art in imagery and music are all key parts of what inspires me. Since retiring from a career in sport, I have felt like I lost my identity. I have had dark moments where I struggle with having a strong sense of myself. When I have been asked what makes me happy, there have been moments when I couldn't answer. I put

I can speak for myself when I say that transitioning from a 13 year career is sport has been one of the most challenging and confusing times of my life. Although many people struggle with transition and job finding/job satisfaction issues throughout their lives, the shift from high performance sport is a very heightened version of this experience. Going from top of the world to a needle in a haystack is a real shock to the system and can leave athletes, like myself, feeling l

It's hard to believe that this past August marked the 3 year anniversary of my Olympic silver in London, my homecoming celebration and the beginning of my new journey(s) beyond a career in sport. Vancouver Sun's article by Yvonne Zacharias captures my homecoming well. "At the airport, the crowds rang cowbells, waved flags, chanted "Ca-na-da!" and erupted into spontaneous singing of O Canada. It was a sea of confusion, tears and sheer joy." - To read the full article click her

​ Since I retired from rowing, I have taken on a few new challenges. Specifically, challenges in the endurance department. Last year I did the GranFondo from Vancouver to Whistler for the first time and on Saturday, September 12th I am going to go after it again! My superstar cycling sister, Leah Guloien, is my idol and coach when it comes to riding (she is pretty awesome all around). She has managed to get me out on the bike a few more times this year and I am feeling strong