August 13, Trois Rivieres, Quebec – Dr. Richard Dober Jr., a chiropractor from Trois Rivières, Que.,
has qualified to represent Canada
in Beijing as a
competitor in the kayak events scheduled for Aug. 18 to 23.
Dober, a graduate of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
chiropractic program, is no novice to competition and has trained vigorously
since his participation, four years ago, in the Olympic games at Athens, Greece. In 2004, Dober placed ninth in the men’s K-4 1,000-metre kayak race and
16th, paddling with Andrew Willows, in the men’s K-2 500-metre race. Earlier this year, Willows and Dober were
world cup champions in both Duisburg, Germany, and Szeged,
Hungary, thereby garnering a
place on the Canadian team bound for Beijing. Dober, once again partnered with Willows,
joins Olympic competitors in the K-2 500-metre event – which he considers to be
his specialty.
Dober has been immersed in a competitive athletic mindset
since childhood – his parents were both competitive athletes and he has been
following in these footsteps from a very young age. He has been involved in canoeing since the
age of two and won his first provincial victory at the tender age of 11. He also follows in the professional footsteps
of his father, Dr. Richard Dober Sr., who is a chiropractor – still in practice
in Trois-Rivières – as well. (Dober’s
sister, Ingrid, is soon to be a graduate of the UQTR chiropractic program as
well.)
Twenty-seven-year-old Dober told the Montreal
newspaper, La Presse, of the rigours of his training for the Beijing
games, which involved several hours a week of paddling on the frozen St. Lawrence River from February to April while finishing
his chiropractic studies. He considers
the 500-metre race to be the event in which he, and his partner, are strongest,
and he wishes to concentrate on reaching his full potential in this event,
prior to branching out into other subspecialties within the sport of
kayaking. Dober is optimistic that, in
the K-2 500-metre race, the teamwork strategy that he and Willows have come to
employ will help them realize their goal of becoming Olympic medallists.
Dober told La Presse, “As Andrew is in the habit of saying,
‘shoot for the moon, at the very least, you will capture a star.’”
Canadian Chiropractor joins the Dober family, as well as the
Ordre des Chiropraticiens du Québec, in
congratulating Richard Dober Jr. on his accomplishment in qualifying for the Beijing Olympic
games. We are very proud of you!
Print this page
