Gov. Schwarzenegger Tours U.S. Olympic Training Center in S. California

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER: Thank you very much, Mike and Tracy, for taking me around and showing me the great Olympic facilities here, the training facilities. I just wanted to come out and wish you all good luck. I know that you are off very soon to go to China, to go to Beijing and to compete and I think that, having been a competitive athlete myself and having been competing in Olympic lifting and power lifting and bodybuilding championships, training five hours a day and so on, so I know what it takes to be a champion and I know the kind of sacrifices that all of you have made. I know the kind of hard work you have put in there, the hours and hours of training and the discipline that it takes and also the sacrifices your families have made. I know you're away from them now and training out here very hard, so I just think the world of you. I mean, you are true action heroes, the kind of performances that you bring. (Applause)

And I also know and I'm very much aware of the fact of what tremendous pressure is on all of you, because it's not just going for the medal but it's also so many other things that come with it. You know, the nations around the world are all judged by various different standards and different things, if it's economic power or if it's military power. But also, a lot of them watch what is the athletic power, how many medals does one country versus the other win, so there is that additional pressure because you are representing the United States.

And then there is also the pressure because all of you are idols and heroes to millions and millions of children, like the children that we see over here. Those are children -- it's not only the grownups like myself that admire your performance but those children admire your performance and everything that you do, because they want to be one day in your shoes and do great athletic feats and go maybe to the Olympics and so on and break world records and Olympic records and so on. So they admire you, they look up to you, so you have that pressure of being an idol also.

And then, of course, you are a great inspiration to all of our young kids because, as you know, the average body weight of a 10-year-old child has increased in the last 20 years by 10 pounds, so we are trying to teach them all to train every day and to stay fit and to eat the right foods. And, of course, there is no one that is a more perfect example than Olympic athletes, of eating the right food and training hard to stay lean and to keep that body fat down and all those kinds of things. So there is all of this that is part of it.

So I just wanted to say, as Governor of the great state of California, which I think is the greatest job that I've ever had -- so you never know what athletic kind of careers can lead to, as you can see. Maybe one of you is becoming a governor down the line when you come back from the Olympics, who knows? But just as Governor, I'm not only proud of our great workforce that we have and our great universities and biotech and high-tech and our great agriculture and all this but I'm very, very proud of our great athletes and that we have such a great athletic facilities here.

And I didn't want to miss the opportunity, before you go off and do your competition and represent this country, to come by here and to personally say to you, congratulations for everything that you have accomplished and good luck with everything that you do over there. I hope you're coming back with many medals. But remember, if not, don't be discouraged, because just to be part of this team and just to go over there and represent the country, I think is the greatest honor.

In Special Olympics -- which I'm an International Coach for Special Olympics -- we always say: Let me win but if I cannot win let me be brave in the attempt. And I think that's the case not only in Special Olympics, that's the case with everything, because I myself do a lot of times tackle certain challenges as governor; some of them fail, sometimes you win. You know, that's just the way it is in sports, that's the way it is in life. That's why I learned a lot of lessons in sports that are helping me for the rest of my life.

So anyway, congratulations and good luck with everything, okay? Thank you very much. (Applause)

TRACY LAMB: We thank the Governor for being here. All week he lifted the spirits of the athletes getting ready for Beijing, so thank you for your time, Governor.