Idaho grad Kristin Armstrong helps Boise State Broncos stay focused

Kristin Armstrong shows you can have it all. She's pictured above with her son on the Olympic podium in London. Armstrong, an University of Idaho graduate, retired briefly from cycling to peruse a family before returning to make a run at the 2012 Olympic games.

University of Idaho grad and two-time Olympic champion Kristin Armstrong spoke at Boise State University's football practice Sunday. As a proud Vandal alum, her words to the state rival's flagship program drew flak from around the web.

She'll also likely be given a hard time if she makes good on her promise to wear the Bronco gear she received Sunday. (She joked that Idaho athletic director Rob Spear should invite her to speak to Idaho's football team if he didn't like her wearing BSU's colors.)

While she deserves whatever comes her way for wearing Boise State colors, she should be given more than a free pass for her speech to the team. She should be applauded and encouraged to keep sharing her story with others. I've heard Armstrong speak before, she has a message everyone, athlete or not, should hear.

Armstrong was the keynote speaker at my sister's graduation from the University of Idaho a few years ago. She delivered one of the best graduation speeches I've ever "got to" sit through.

I've sat through numerous speakers at various events. Most of the time, I'm counting down in my head how long until they stop talking. I seldom pay attention and if I do, I've forgotten whatever they were saying before I've walked out of the building. Mike Ditka was once the speaker at one of my graduations. I can't remember what he talked about.

But I remember what Armstrong spoke about that day inside the Kibbie Dome in 2010. She spoke on her success as an Olympic champion. She had yet to win her second gold and become the oldest woman to win an Olympic time trial in 2012. She spoke on the setbacks she encountered as she started her career as a triathlete. Osteoarthritis in both hips caused her to give up her career in a sport that focused on running and forced her to focus solely on a cycling career.

She spoke on the challenges she faced as a world-class cyclist and how her focus on training, and life, changed once she realized the things she "had to" do to train became things she "got to" do on her way to becoming a champion.

On Sunday, she spoke to the Broncos about focus. The same focus that allowed her to win a second gold after a brief retirement to begin a family. The same focus that allowed her to win an Olympic medal just months after she suffered a broken clavicle as a result of a crash.

Armstrong is many things. She's a fighter. She's a champion. She's a mother. She's currently the executive director of community health at St. Luke's. She's a success story. And she's a Vandal. Regardless of whom she's speaking to, she'll always be a Vandal. If her story can inspire others, even Broncos, let her spread her message without jest. Vandal fans should be proud of her and the fact she continues to motivate others as she adjusts to life away from competition.

And please, Rob Spear, let her share her story with current Vandals. Give her a new University of Idaho t-shirt to replace that one Coach Petersen gave her Sunday.