Olympian. Professional athlete. Hard worker. Titan. These words sum up a member of GBS alumnus Brian Hansen.  After graduating in 2009, Hansen went on to compete in the 2010 Vancouver and 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal in the 2010 games.

Hansen grew up in Glenview and reminisces on how he found his love for skating through the resources in his area and at GBS.

“Growing up in Glenview, I played hockey [which is] how I got into skating,” Hansen said. “I got into speed skating through a Northbrook speed skating club. I’ve spent a lot of time training in Glenview.”

Although not on the GBS hockey team, Hansen did play other sports at GBS including, lacrosse, tennis, and soccer. He cites his coaches as motivating and positive.

“All my coaches were good coaches and definitely helpful in supporting [me in] my athletic career,” Hansen said. “I’m happy to have had a lot of talented coaches who were excited about what they [were] doing.”

He also noted that the GBS community as a whole has helped motivate him to be better in many of life’s arenas and to have a deeper sense of gratitude for some the things he might otherwise have taken for granted.

“A lesson [I learned] from GBS is [to be] appreciative of having the community that GBS is, especially for athletics, for school, for everything,” Hansen said.

He recalls one specific time in his junior year when the Oracle wrote an article about his speed skating. Hansen was surprised at the exposure and influx of support it brought him from the GBS community.

“After they wrote that article, all my friends were asking me about [skating] and basically everyone was excited about what I was doing,” Hansen said. “That helped motivate me because it showed me that other people really do care and are supportive about skating.”

The support of his family and friends were also paramount during the long practices.

“Back in high school, I was trying to fit in two workouts a day, even on school days,” Hansen said. “It was a bit of a balancing act, but my parents really helped out by driving me up to Milwaukee so I could get my homework done in the car and I would eat dinner on the way back [home].”

Hansen started aiming for the US Olympic team after performing well against other top speed skaters in national competitions.

“I finally started competing against the top guys in the US,” Hansen said. “I finished eighth in one of the distances and I [realized] that if I only beat four more people, [it] would put me on the Olympic team.”

Hansen took a year off after high school to train and competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics, where Team USA won a silver medal in the team pursuit section of the speed skating competition. Hansen recalls past team practices at GBS and says they continued to influence him after high school.

“I remember days where we had practice and it was really cold outside or the conditions weren’t great,” Hansen said. “I think going to those practices and not having any excuses for skipping was always something that helped me.”

Hansen went to Marquette University for a year and a half after Vancouver. Although he was closer to a rink where he could practice, Hansen had a little trouble getting back into the flow of academic life.

“It was hard getting back to class and getting my homework done,” Hansen said.

He then took time off to train for Sochi. At Sochi, Hansen felt a little disappointed, having not reached the podium. However, in the following weeks he competed in another race with many of the same skaters from the Olympics, and won.

“[This] was probably the best and most meaningful race […] I’ve ever had,” Hansen said. “I did okay in Sochi, but not as well as I [had hoped]. But two weeks after Sochi, I won the 1500 by the biggest margin that anyone had won the 1500 that year.”

Hansen is currently undecided about whether he will try out for the next Olympics. Currently he is taking time off from skating to focus on his education at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Hansen is willing to return to GBS and talk to current students.

“If there was anything GBS would want me to help out with, I would be happy to help,” Hansen said.

According to Hansen, he hopes GBS students are enjoying their time there and not taking it for granted. He continued to say he would be open to returning to GBS to provide inspiration to current students.

“I miss high school, and I know people like to complain about it, but I don’t think they realize what they [have in high school] until they’re out of there,” Hansen said.