Gerd Kanter: The story behind my book

He was considered talentless at 21 but Gerd Kanter went on to prove his critics wrong by, among other achievements, winning the Olympic discus title. spikesmag.com speaks to the charismatic Estonian about his new book “15 steps to winning”, which he hopes can inspire hundreds of kids to reach the top...

Why did you decide to write a book?

GK: I remember my childhood, and I remember how important it was to receive simple advice on what to do. To help kids was the main reason I decided to write it. I tested my principles in lots of meetings with kids and they worked, so we decided to give it a go.

Is it the first book you have ever written?

GK: Absolutely! I never thought, that before end of my career I would start to write something, but chief of my team, Raul Rebane, convinced me that it’s not good enough to just be a good sportsmen. He says that first of all you have to be good citizen.

What is the main theme of the book?

GK: The book has two parts. The first is 15 pieces of advice on how to be successful, not only in sports but in life generally. It's not a sports book, it’s a book about the strategy to be successful. The second part is about the idols I admired during my childhood. Everybody has different idols, so this is, in a way, just my story. I know that not everyone has Michael Jordan or Sylvester Stallone as their idols.

Who is the book targeted at?

GK: We wanted to target 10-15 year-olds, but it appears that coaches and parents have found something in the book for them, too.

What is your most important rule in life?

GK: Dream of great results and work hard to achieve your dreams. A combination of these two rules, I believe, is a very powerful vision for life.

You were considered untalented at the age of 21. How much did this inspire you to write this book?

GK: Actually a lot. I had to work and think much more and I had to do it fast with the help of people who believed in me. “Don’t lose hope” is one of the main themes of the book. If you trust your talent, just do it. I really think, that one of my missions is to be a beacon of hope for thousands and thousands of athletes who coaches often consider untalented.

I really wanted to be a top-level basketball player, but I was not accepted to the Tallinn sports school. Later I got several setbacks in athletics from people who said I was too old with no talent. This made me angry. And when my chance came I seized the opportunity – It was seven years in waiting, but it paid off.

Gerd Kanter part two: The story behind my book
In the second and final part of our feature focusing on Olympic discus champion Gerd Kanter, spikesmag.com speaks to the charismatic Estonian about his new book "15 steps to winning"...

So, Gerd, how long did it take for you to write the book?

GK: From October to the end of January. But most of the technical work and ideas were ready much earlier – back in the spring of 2001, when my personal record was 57m. Raul Rebane, my manager, asked me to write down the principles that I followed to later become the world and Olympic champion. Back then I was crazy enough to say to him that I will win the discus in 2008. Raul didn’t laugh but said, “If you want it, there is a lot of work to do!” I wrote down these principles, which became our “10 commandments”, and I have followed them throughout my career. My life has changed since. The basics are the same but many things have changed.

How did you find the time to write the book with your other training demands?

GK: Actually, my part was mainly story telling, sometimes even via Skype. Raul wrote it down, then we argued and made corrections. In this period I had a lot of school presentations and I found the kids questions and proposals very useful.

So, what are your 15 rules of life?

GK: These are the first 10 rules, which may seem a little funny, but there are more in the book.

1. Learning is more important than training
2. If you do train, train consistently
3. If you do train – train
4. Enjoy the training
5. Do not be afraid to lose
6. Listen to your coach
7. Do many fields of sports when young
8. Eat healthily
9. Establish objectives, dream of great results
10. Do not hope for miracles, achieve your results honestly

When did you start to live by your 15 rules?

GK: Actually, I never thought, I have to follow something - I just did it. Training is a normal part of life, like in every job, work time is work time – every Estonian knows understands this.

Later I started to see that a lot of kids have difficulty following even simple rules, like eating healthily. In my childhood, in one way, I was lucky – we never had money to buy modern sweet stuff so my food was simple village food and I enjoyed it. But now I see kids eating without any rules and eating very bad things. Then they have problems with their weight and health.

My coach Vesteinn Hafsteinsson said that to be a good sportsman you need to master four elements that are all of equal importance – training, eating, sleeping and resting. So you see, its not enough to train hard, if you eat junk or don’t rest enough then this is going to have a detrimental effect.

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