The Unlikely Olympian

As a boy, he was hospitalized for asthma, yet he went on to triumph in the gruelling cold-weather sport of cross-country skiing. As a teen and preteen, Lenny Valjas was loath to train seriously and kept switching sports. Even now, the athlete from Toronto, who will compete for Canada at the Sochi Olympics, would just as soon be surfing in Hawaii. And as Paul Hunter points out in his ebook The Unlikely Olympian: Canada's Nordic Skiing Phenomenon Lenny Valjas, the sprinter had to return to Canada in December from training in Europe to get intensive rehab for his left leg. Yet Hunter notes that Valjas has natural talents and a competitive edge that have helped him defy the critics and naysayers. A reluctant Olympian he may be, but Valjas has Olympic drive nonetheless. Just watch him at Sochi.

Star Dispatches is a weekly series of quality journalism in ebook form from the newsroom of the Toronto Star, Canada's largest newspaper.