Gold Medalist Recalls Olympic Glory

sits under a tent as light rain falls on the Valley Preferred Cycling Center in Breiningsville on a recent Friday evening.

Blown-up pictures of his past surround him as he shakes hands, shares stories and signs copies of his new book "The Price of Gold."

For Nothstein, London's calling (the site of the upcoming Olympics).

But this Lehigh Valley hero knows he can make a bigger difference as executive director of the cycling center, helping to train cyclists for the challenge of achieving a claim to fame that few can say.

In the 2000 Olympic Summer Games in Sydney, Australia, Nothstein reached a dream he couldn't achieve four years earlier: wearing a gold medal around his neck.

During a question-and-answer session Friday July 13, Nothstein told of the toll and the triumph in getting that gold glory.

"I lost Olympic gold in Atlanta and won the silver medal," he told a crowd gathered around the stage as his longtime coach and mentor Gil Hatton looked on. "When they were playing the National Anthem, I had an incredible feeling of anger. I let my family down, my sponsors and friends. This was a defeat I didn't like very well."

So Nothstein started training.

"Before I went to the medal presentation, I said to myself that I was going to start training tomorrow to win the gold medal in Sydney," he said.

That hard-fought road to the 2000 Summer Olympics is outlined in his book.

Nothstein and Hatton told about how rigorous training led to wins at every race in the quest toward Sydney.

"We were all driven," Hatton said. "Marty's determination was passed on to me. We trained six hours a day, six days a week. We were constantly training. There was blood, sweat and some tears."

Nothstein said he worked himself into a frenzy and got into a mental state where he wasn't going to lose his opportunity this time around.

"I never liked the French riders. I didn't care for the German riders. Actually, I didn't like anybody," he said. "We weren't there to make friends. All I wanted was the gold medal in my bag at the end of the day."

And that's just want he got.