Canadian athletes at Smith: Jayson Krause

In November 2016, Smith and the Canadian Olympic Committee struck a partnership to provide scholarships for Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Over eight years, some 1,200 athletes will be eligible to enroll in various Smith programs. With the Winter Olympics just a month away, we’re highlighting COC/CPC athletes who’ve attended Smith. First up this week: bobsleigh great Jayson Krause.

Kingston, ON — If you’ve ever watched bobsledders hurtling down an icy track, you’ve probably wondered, Why on earth would someone do that? Believe it or not, four-time Canadian bobsleigh champ Jayson Krause has asked the same question.

“In the pilot seat you’re so focused, you don’t feel the speed. Then you stand by the track and see how fast other bobsleds are going and you think, God, how do I do this?”

Jayson, who has completed Executive Education at Smith, didn’t intend to be a bobsledder. He grew up in Okotoks, AB and, at 20, playing junior football, heard that bobsleigh training was a superb way to get stronger for the gridiron. Soon he found himself pushing a sled and competing for Canada.

The real trick to bobsleigh, he says, is to relax despite the speed (in excess of 150 km/h) and crushing G-force in the turns. “The natural tendency is to tense up. But when you panic, that’s when you get in trouble,” he says.

After a stellar eight-year career piloting four-man and two-man teams, Krause retired in 2006. Today, at 41, he’s managing director at Kraukman Inc., a Calgary-based coaching and consulting firm that blends high-performance athletics, applied neuroscience and modern management techniques.

Jayson says he teaches businesspeople how to be better leaders by employing principles similar to those used by top-level athletes in training: warm-up, exercise and cool-down. This process, says Jayson “can accelerate our understanding of our performance as business leaders, so we can engage in the daily practice of leadership, which accelerates development and impact."