Olympics, Heroes, Idols and Inspirations

Every 4 years we get this special chance to watch the Olympics.  There are plenty of naysayers that say the Olympics are not what it was.  You might think there are new sports every time that might not belong.   The media also seems to have changed from 75% coverage of the events to 75% coverage of how the athletes grew up.  They perhaps grew up in a small town with no running water and hiked up the mountain 3 times a day to ski down because they couldn’t afford lift tickets.  I hope you get my point.

However many of us have seen the Olympics as a source of heroes, idols and inspiration.

I myself am excited to watch it this year.  I don’t follow all of the athletes like I did in the past, but if you follow anything it is pretty hard to not see the amazing stories of Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn playing out in front of our eyes.  I have also noticed this year my ski vacation with friends and family coincides with the Olympics.  I will be in a ski village during the Olympics. Is there anything better that coming off the mountain after a glorious day in the snow to have some food, maybe a beer and watch the world’s best emulate what you were just doing?  As the night gets late on the telecast they also always have the little backdrop with the fire place crackling as you nod off to refresh yourself for the next day of skiing.

Just a quick disclaimer I watch snowboarding, halfpipe and other events on TV, but personally they aren’t what drive me.  This is however about the events that inspire you once every 4 years. If it sparks a fire and interest to you that is what matters.  Every March during March madness you can see kids playing basketball in their front driveways in the rain pretending they are their favorite college player (hero).  Thanksgiving it is kids playing football out in the muddy snow while 3 football games play on the TV inside and the turkey is cooking in the oven.  We are all still kids and for many of us the Olympics might encourage us to try on our skates, or promise to ski more often.   We may even look to see if there is a local curling league since our body doesn’t quite work the same as years past but we have never lost the dream to find a way to reach the Olympics. 

Our inspirations and heroes start young and likely were started by our parents or elders.  To me Jean Claude Killy, Ingemar Stenmark and Franz Klamer were the “Legends” as each were rounding out their careers when I was quite young and getting started.  My friends and I always watched each other go down the hill.  We would each claim to be one of them.  I also remember if you had the craziest of runs totally out of control we would remark “you totally Franzed that!!!”  Similarly if you had the guts you might stand at the top of the hill looking at something too steep or icy and plan to go down without regard to your safety to make your fastest run ever.  At that point you would tell you friends, “Okay I am going to Franz this”.  It was like triple dog daring yourself.  I have seen videos of all of the 3 throughout the years, but just the mentions of their names still leaves an impact on myself and my friends to this day.  I am pretty sure “Franz it” is still in my copy of the Webster’s dictionary.

It might seem sad when the flame goes out and you have to wait another 4 years.  However, I do think it is best the Olympics is only once every 4 years.  It makes it something extra special.  Most of the top athletes get the chance to aim for at least 1 Olympics while in their prime.  Part of the story is also about the individual that just missed out or got injured.  Although painful, it makes Olympics the pinnacle of achievements even like life it not fair to all.  You personally may have had to sit out of skiing for a year or more with a knee, shoulder, lack of funds or personal issues in your life.  The highs always outweigh the lows and Olympics may bring back our passion and desire over and over.  Every 4 years we personally are not subject to the stress, pain or joy in the same way as the athletes.  We can however feel some of the pain watching the story play out or enjoy the special stories and victories.  This is what leads our inspirations to get out to the slope or ice rink or gets us to work a bit more on our form, technique or increases our appreciation of the sport.

Some of the American Olympic alpine skiers that I have watched reach the podium over the years include Tamara McKinney, Phil Mahre, Steve Mahre, Bill Johnson, Tommy Moe, Picabo Street, Bode Miller, Julia Mancuso, Lindsey Vonn, Ted Ligety and Mikaela Shiffrin.  Did any of them inspire you? Each had a story to tell.  The Mahre brothers were from a resort near me in Washington.  The only bad thing about brothers being so good was that they couldn’t both win Gold.  They were possibly the start of truly technical skiing in my mind and influenced a lot of how I try to ski.  Bill Johnson will forever be remembered for his out of control Gold medal run.  He totally “Franzed it” and it paid off.  With Tommy Moe there was always a focus on his family lifestyle and up bringing.  Bode Miller is an amazing story and it is still filled with up and downs in his life.  Currently his company is clawing back to hopefully grow and be something important for the ski industry for years to come.  Lindsey Vonn is bridging decades of athletes together whether she likes the sound of that or not and Mikaela Schiffrin is the most dominant skier in history and only in her prime.  Lindsey might disagree. 

While Alpine is the original to me, freestyle moguls is of the greatest interest.  Jonny Mosely, Travis Mayer (from my area growing up), Hannah Kearny, Nelson Carmichael, Donna Weinbrecht are all past Americans I watched reach the podium.  The coverage for moguls is short and if it is like last Olympics it can be over before you realize it is even on.  The 10 runs they broadcast in each round take a less than a minute each and that’s it.  However the effort and practice it takes to turn your legs to rubber in 20-30 second races makes me truly appreciate anyone who can earn a medal.  Personally I will be rooting for Canadian Mikael Kingsbury as he is the best to ever take the course.  I will also be looking for the next one up or maybe someone with a style I admire even more.  I will be watching the skiing aspect a lot more than the jumping and tricks that are practiced on an inflatable pillow or foam chunks in the summer time.  This year keep your eyes on American Jaelin Kauf.  As for other events cross country skiing, ski jumping, biathlon as well as the snowboarding events I’ll be watching and rooting for our athletes.  New this year is “ski-mountaineering”.  We all can watch that one for the first time and see what we think.

I have never been to the Olympics so I can only relate to my closest experience.  I was at a ski resort during the world cup events they had.  Today I looked back and had no idea how rare an event that can be.  I will say it was almost 25 years ago I have not forgotten it at all.  It was so much fun watching the skiers draw for position.  They were hooting and hollering and the cheers came in so many languages and accents as each starting position was selected.  There is a comradery in the sport that you don’t know about unless you actually experience all of the athletes cheering each other on.  I had payed close attention to the world cup season that year.  I believe I guessed the top three skiers in that race before it had started.  It was full of the some of the best of all time.  These were the top ten that day. 

Atle Skaardal FIN, Tommy Moe USA,  Franz Heinzer  SUI, Cary Mullen CAN,      Christophe Ple  FRA, Peter Rzehak  AUT,  Marc Giradelli LUX, Patrick Ortlieb   AUT, Armin Assinger AUT,  Rob Boyd CAN.

I can still hear the cowbells as each skier descended.  It was so much fun I can only imagine the Olympic scene.

I’ll also add a shout out to our neighbors up north.  The Canadians are always fun to root for especially since their Olympic coverage is far superior to ours.  Sure there are individuals from other countries to root for, but rooting for USA and CAN has always been important to me.  The crazy Canadians Dave Murray, Ken Read, Jim Hunter, Steve Podborski, and Dave Irwin will forever be remembered for their risky style of skiing on the edge.

You might be rooting for the next great who will become like Pirmin Zurbriggen, Herman Maier or Franz Klamer, Marc Giradelli, Kjetil Andre Aamodt.  You might be swept up into the story of a European playboy like Alberta Tomba that goes to date Katerina Witt (2x gold figure skater) and later Miss Italy after winning Gold.  You might root for anyone that can beat the Austrian Machine of skiers. 

The Olympics is an amazing event.  You may never throw a ball in Dallas stadium, race a car at the Daytona speedway or score a goal in Madison square garden.  You can however ski down the same trails that everyone mentioned above did.  You might get scared at 30 MPH and wonder how they hit 78.3MPH on the same trail.  That should only make you enjoy the fact that you can do what they can, maybe not as fast or good, but maybe you can!  After 2026 the Olympics in 2030 and 2034 are coming quickly…  Start training.