Daniel Greig
'He who blames others has a long way to go on his journey. He who blames himself is halfway there. He who blames no one has arrived.' Those are the words that inspire Deakin elite athlete and Australian speed skater Daniel Greig.
Daniel is a unique and talented athlete, becoming one of the very few athletes in Australia that has reached elite status in two separate sports: inline speed skating, and ice speed skating.
'I compete in two sister sports, inline speed skating and ice speed skating. In the summer I compete in the European Inline Cup and World Championships, and in the winter I compete in the ISU World Cup and World Championships,' Daniel explained.
Daniel competed at two Winter Olympic Games (Sochi and Pyeongchang), finished third at the ISU World Sprint Championships and featured on the podium a number of times at the National European Inline.
However, it wasn’t always smooth skating for Daniel. In 2014, Daniel caused significant damage to his knees due to skating. Painful surgeries and months of rehab followed to get his body back into shape to continue skating.
'A lot of people will give you the general advice that going through hardship will make you stronger. Not always true. Tough situations represent a choice: you can either let it break you or push through. But take it one step at a time.'
Daniel is currently studying Honours in Mechanical Engineering (Mechatronic) at Deakin University. Due to his extensive travel commitments with skating, Daniel decided to study online.
'I chose to study at Deakin because it was by far the most elite athlete-friendly option at the time. The off-campus study option means that I can complete my studies wherever I happen to be in the world.'
With his university studies coming to a completion, Daniel has some words of advice for any professional athlete who is thinking of studying.
'Don't believe anyone in either field that says you need to commit to one or the other. Proper high performance is all about body and mind balance and having requirements in your life for both of those is one of the best ways to train it.'
Keep up-to-date with Daniel’s speed skating results via his Instagram.