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RUBEN GONZALEZ
a four-time Olympian, a professional keynote speaker and a bestselling author. Gonzalez has spoken for over 100 of the Fortune 500 companies about developing mental toughness, attitude, and the principles that lead to success in business and in life.
Gonzalez was born in Campana, Argentina, an oil town about 50 miles north of Buenos Aries. His father worked as a chemical engineer in the local Exxon refinery. His family emigrated to the United States in 1968.
When Gonzalez was 10 years old while watching the 1972 Winter Olympics, he decided he wanted to become an Olympian. Although he lived in Queens, New York, and Maracaibo, Venezuela, Gonzalez spent most of his life in Houston. He graduated from Houston Baptist University with degrees in chemistry and biology. At HBU, he played on the varsity soccer team.
Gonzalez took up the sport of luge when he was 21 after being inspired by watching the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics and watching the figure skater, Scott Hamilton, win the gold medal at the Winter Olympics. Gonzalez trained in Lake Placid, New York and in Europe and competed in the 1988 Calgary, 1992 Albertville, 2002 Salt Lake City, and 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Competing in four Winter Olympics, he holds the record for being the first athlete ever to participate in four different Winter Olympic games in four different decades. Because of his inspirational story, Gonzalez was selected to be a torchbearer at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
He is training to become the Oldest Winter Olympian EVER and is hoping to compete in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and will be 59 years old competing in the sport of luge. Hurdling down a chute of ice at 80-90 MPH while pulling up to 6 Gs in the tightest curves.
Ruben currently resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he continues his work as a professional keynote speaker and inspiring others to pursue their dreams.
Olympian Success Tips
Olympian Keynote Speaker
Make Your Life An Adventue
Ruben’s Books
Gonzalez is the author of "The Courage to Succeed," "The Inner Game of Success," "Fight for Your Dream," "Dream, Struggle, Victory," "Success Secrets for Teens," and "How to Get Where You Want to Be." His books teach universal success principles that apply in sports, business and life. His bestselling books have been translated to over 10 languages.
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Why it is important to inspire the community?
My mission is to inspire and equip others to face their fears and passionately pursue their goals.
I do it by sharing the story of how I went from being a benchwarmer in my college soccer team to a four-time Olympian in the sport of luge.
“My story takes people’s excuses away and gets them to take action. It wakes them up and inspires them to win. People leave my talk thinking, “If that guy could make it to the Olympics, we can do anything!”
People need to be inspired by great stories of achievement. They need inspiration to have the courage to face their fears.
“My mission is to inspire people to wake up and to live their lives with passion so they will be more productive and so that they will create a ripple effect of success everywhere they go.”