Marilyn King

Two Time Olympian and World Record Holder in the Five-Event Pentathlon

In-Person Fee Range
$5,000 to $10,000
(Inquire for virtual fee)

Travels From
California, United States

Two Time Olympian and World Record Holder in the Five-Event Pentathlon

Two-Time Olympian Marilyn King has demystified exceptional human performance. winning in Munich in 1972 and Montreal in 1976 in the grueling five-event Pentathlon. Her 20-year athletic career includes five national titles and a World Record. Marilyn has been featured in numerous articles and books, including DreamMakers and Spirit of Champions. Marilyn has also appeared on the PBS program NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

Over the past 17 years her message of unlimited possibility has inspired thousands worldwide. Her techniques have been incorporated by businesses seeking to empower employees, embrace change and provide global leadership. Marilyn King’s corporate clients include American Express, Apple Computer, AT&T, Haas School of Business, Hewlett Packard, IBM, L.M. Ericsson, Monsanto, Sun Microsystems, Swiss Reinsurance Company and Xerox Business Services.

While preparing for the ill-fated 1980 Olympics, Marilyn suffered a back injury which resulted in her being bed-ridden for over four months and unable to train physically for her third Olympic team. She spent most of that time watching films of successful pentathletes, visualizing and feeling herself going through the same events. Using only mental training techniques, she placed second at the Olympic trials for the 1980 Moscow Games, despite her lack of physcial preparation. This extraordinary experience and her research into cognitive training led to a career as an expert in the field of exceptional human performance. Marilyn King’s discovery of three elements that are always present when ordinary people do extraordinary things, resulted in her developing the concept of Olympian Technology.

Marilyn’s subsequent research into imagery found that it impacts every cell of the body. Studies at the National Institute of Mental Health regarding psychoneuroimmunology, actually showed physiological changes in the brain as a result of mental rehearsal skills. Marilyn found that in isolation, imagery did not produce exceptional human performance–it needed the alignment of passion, vision, and action. Out of that discovery, she created the method called Olympian Thinking which she has used in consulting with business, education, and peace organizations for over fifteen years.

Recognizing that many Olympians use these skills to become champions, Marilyn noted that many of them did not continue using the skills in the rest of their lives. This led to the formation of the Olympic Peace Team, sponsored by the UN, and a worldwide initiative engaging Olympic champions to teach these skills to young people to create the world we all want to live in.

Marilyn’s work has been implemented by major corporations to enhance their productivity. It’s been used by school districts, ( in one community, supported by real estate companies – as the quality of schools is enhanced, so are property values.) The program has also been used to turn around teen-aged gang members. And it is having a profound effect on the ways people and organizations can achieve their goals.

Marilyn is an internationally respected business consultant, international speaker and corporate trainer, who assists participants in discovering how profoundly their thinking affects their health, their performance and their future. The results are success-oriented individuals who are self-defined, self-directed and capable of far surpassing their previous levels of accomplishment. Through keynotes, training and consulting, Marilyn provides business leaders and eduators with mental tools that will serve them for a lifetime.

King is also the founder of an organization which seeks to extend the application of imagery and related skills to a broader arena of individual and social concerns, including world peace. She is currently creating a curriculum for schools based on Olympian Technology.

Area’s of Expertise: Motivation & Achievement, Inspiring Lives, Sports Motivation, Motivation for Business, Peak Performance, Team Building, Olympians, and Women in Sports.

How Ordinary People do Extraordinary Things

Living Like an Olympian

The Olympian Edge

Taking Command of Change

Awaken the Olympian in You

All Marilyn King Books

Enlightened Power: How Women are Transforming the Practice of Leadership
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Thank you for your participation in the Sun Microsystems Finance and Legal Affairs Group (FLAG) Conference. This years conference was the most successful by all accounts. Very much in part due to your assistance in the design phase as well as a presenter. Fantastic feedback from your keynote speech at dinner was received from everyone. Congratulations!

- Kevin Walsh | Vice President, WWOPS Finance and Planning Sun Microsystems


"I know that this was not your first experience with Hewlett-Packard, and your reputation is well deserved as both keynote and workshop presenter. Your message has been an inspiration to those who have had the fortune to be in your audience."

- Judy Allen | Hewlett-Packard


'OUTSTANDING' My goal for this years symposium was to educate and motivate some of our best and brightest leaders. Your session clearly accomplished this goal. The feedback I received on your session was outstanding! It was a perfect way to start our week.

- Scott A.Dougall | Vice President, IBM Technical Support-Americas


“What an inspiration you are! My staff and I came back with renewed spirits and the will to work on building a stronger team bond…thanks to your ability to motivate and inspire. Needless to say I was again awestruck by your talk, just as I was when I heard you at the Women in Leadership Summit in San Francisco.”

- Barbara Whittacker | Exectuive Director, Worldwide Purchasing- Metallic General Motors

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Recent Books

Enlightened Power: How Women are Transforming the Practice of Leadership
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