[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Van_Koeverden.jpg” caption=”Adam Van Koeverden “]Maroon and gold are familiar colours to McMaster student Adam van Koeverden and alumni Sue Palmer-Komar and Mark Heese. But over the next two weeks, these colours will mean more to them than ever. Maroon, because it will remind them of home and gold, because it's what they want to return with.

This month, the athletes are in Athens, Greece, competing in kayaking, cycling and beach volleyball. It's exactly four years after van Koeverden made a pact with himself — he was going to Athens in 2004.

“I watched the opening ceremonies in 2000 on the third floor in Whidden Hall, which is where I lived then, at 3:30 a.m., alone, draped in my Canadian Flag. I watched all of it,” he says, “from like 2 a.m. until I had to go to class at 8 or something. I was really pissed off that I wasn't there, and that may have been the exact moment when I decided nothing was going to keep me off the team from then on.”

Since that fateful day, van Koeverden has been training intensely in his sport, called flatwater, or sprint kayak. He'll compete Aug. 23-28 in the single kayak (K1) 1,000-metres, and 500-metre race.

Competing in the Olympics is a culmination of a lot of hard work, perseverance and focus, said van Koeverden, while taking a short break from a busy schedule of training in July. “The Olympics have been a goal for me since about 1998, when I started getting serious about my sport.”

“I kayak everyday, usually twice… and I usually run or lift weights as well. Training takes up an average of six hours a day.”

As a 25-time Canadian champion, it's evident he's had a successful kayaking career. He remains undefeated in the 1,000m K1 in Canada since 2000, at the last set of Olympic trials — the last time he lost an event to a Canadian. Last year, he was second at the world championships in the 1,000m K1, and sixth in the 500m K1. This year, he's tied for first in overall world cup points.

After taking a year off training, the 22-year-old McMaster kinesiology student is anxiously awaiting September when he returns to his studies.

McMaster alumna Sue Palmer-Komar hopes to cycle her way to gold at the Olympics.

The former McMaster nordic skier is one of a three-member cycling team. She placed third at the Road National Championships, thirteenth at the 2003 World Road Cycling Championships in Hamilton, and second at the 2002 La Fleche Wallone Women's World Cup Race in Belgium. This is her second Olympics — she attended the 1996 games in Atlanta, where she placed tenth. Palmer-Komar graduated from McMaster with a bachelor of physical education in 1992.

McMaster alumnus Mark Heese will compete in beach volleyball. Heese, a '92 physical education graduate, received a bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, with Canadian teammate John Child. They will compete together in their third Olympic Games. They finished fifth in Sydney four years ago.

The 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece take place Aug. 13-29.