2. Olympic gold medalist, Mark McKoy coaches students
to hurdle 30:1 odds of acceptance into the toughest
university arts programs. He reveals the surprisingly
simple secrets of how he broke his 12 year losing
streak so that students can get on the right track and
beat the odds like he did.
(Newswire.net--Aug 3, 2013) Guelph, ON--Mark’s
determination to win gold inspires students to persevere
against tough odds and get into the most competitive art
and design colleges. In an odd match McKoy teams up
with PortPrep to close the gap left by secondary school
boards, delivering the kind of coaching today’s college
applicants need to compete.
McKoy refused to give up even after continued loses in three consecutive Olympic Games and
World Championships. Barcelona was his fourth and last shot at winning the Olympics. He
became dubbed the “Perennial Also Ran” as a CTV sports announcer chided at the Summer
Olympics of ’92, “ Mark McKoy of Canada; fourth in the World Championship in 1983, fourth in
Los Angeles in ‘84, fourth in the World Championship in 1991-- he is in lane four.”
Mark was 10 years older than his competitors, was recovering from surgery and faced the
1:22,000,000 odds of winning the Olympics; but McKoy had a unique strategy that trumped his
younger cohorts.
“The one thing I always tell kids is that when they see athletes who are talented, or people in
their field who are talented, they say sometimes its genetics. But I found that hard work will beat
talent and genetics a 100% of the time. It makes the difference between really successful
people and talented people who know they don’t have to work hard because everything falls on
their plate.”
But for hard work to come to fruition, Mark McKoy had to find the right coach to break his losing
streak.
"I spent years and years and years working hard, getting advice from a lot of people," says
McKoy. "But the most important thing is coaching. And not just coaching – good coaching…you
need the right coaching advice."
McKoy switched to the world’s best hurdles coach, Malcolm Arnold and won under his eagle-
eyed tutelage. He simply corrected McKoy’s foot angle by one inch. “I actually had 39 crooked
steps in a race,” says McKoy. “I won the Olympics in Barcelona by 39 inches.”
Mark shares his wisdom with me the head portfolio coach for PortPrep. I fine tune student work
the way Malcolm did for McKoy, giving them the edge they need to win a spot in the top arts
programs. The student Adam in the video with Mark got accepted in the top 5% of 4000
applicants competing for 127 placements.
McKoy's strangest career match--art and
sports
3. Just as Mark’s initial coaching was off the mark, high school students don’t receive the right kind
of coaching from their teachers on how to make the right kind of art portfolio. As PortPrep’s
spokesperson, I saw talented students get rejected from Sheridan College’s famous Illustration
Program when I taught there because of poor presentation.
McKoy and Kesteloot share their top success secrets with students to rectify this problem and
give students a fighting chance to reach their goals. With PortPrep’s coaching 100% of the
students have been accepted into the programs of their choice.
Now, that’s the kind of coaching Mark McKoy would approve of.
Karen Kesteloot
Company Spokesperson and Head Art Portfolio Coach at PortPrep
info@portprep.com
(519) 803-2539
To view source of news release, click here.