ODYSSEY

Every athlete’s journey is an odyssey fraught with anxiety, frustration, triumph and success. Victory Journal issue 12 is about how those emotions intertwine with the events that can define a person: from the hidden mental burden of being an Olympic alternate, to the generation-spanning lumberjack championships, to the Kelsey family's tireless dedication to the old cowboy way on the 9QC Ranch—the stories in this issue look at how astonishing feats of athleticism can be fueled by the quietly powerful internal moments that push us forward. In Squamish, B.C., Spencer Seabrooke has to fight his own body in order to walk untethered on a highline where even the smallest mistake means immediate death, and just down the coast in the Catalina Channel, Abigail Bergman is fueled by some great mysterious desire, swimming alone for endless stretches, navigating roiling waters and jellyfish stings in her quest to swim every one of the Ocean’s Seven. Also in this issue: writer Dave Tompkins explores (and also maybe invents) the earliest days of fantasy football, photographer Emily Maye surveys the difficult Belgium Classic bike race, and Gary Hustwit and Jon Pack traverse the globe, documenting the shocking metamorphosis of former Olympic venues. Victory Journal 12 is part travelogue, part psychological exploration—an odyssey in itself.