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Congrat Olympians!

© Sue Barton

Congratulations Olympians!

Oregon with its abundance of natural beauty and resources (particularly in winter) is home to a number of Olympians for the Salt Lake City games. Some did well, One took home gold, all of them are winners.

Growing up in Bend, I first caught Olympic fever in 1968. Kiki Cutter was a premier downhill skier from Bend and the whole town was rooting for her to do well in Grenoble. She went on to compete in Sapporo Japan four years later. In the years around that time, the U.S. Downhill team trained late in the spring and summer at the Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort. My pride overflowed every time I heard or read their news. I even tried to ski when I was in high school. Unfortunately, it isn't good to have two left feet on the hill either.

In those days the network carrying the games, showed them all. We saw all competitors, all events, all countries, and it was live in real time instead of being cut and pasted into a neat package of Americans, and a few international winners with familiar names. I wish for those days again. I would have enjoyed cheering on all of the athletes. I thought I'd share a little bit about each of these sportsters. I'm claiming a quite a few folks and though many of the Olympians started or grew up in Oregon, a good number have been living and training in the Salt Lake City area for the last couple of years.

Bobsleigh (Bob Sled)

Jill Bakken (with her brakeman, Voneta Flowers) won gold! Jill grew up in Portland and then Bend, before graduating from high school in Kirkland, Washington. She started bobsledding when she was just 17 (a year before she was eligible) because she loved it so much. She was recruited in to the inaugural U.S. women's team in 1994 and laid low this year, letting Jean Racine's team get all the press and then slid down the track in the fastest time.

Dan Steele from Eugene was a pusher on the USA-2 sled piloted by Brian Shimer and they brought home the Bronze Medal. This was the first time in nearly fifty years that an American sled medalled. The USA-1 sled won the Silver Medal.

Cross-Country Skiing

Lars Flora, Carl Swenson, Justin Wadsworth, and Patrick Weaver competed on the cross-country team at various distances. Lars is originally from Portland and Carl is from Corvallis while Justin and Patrick are from Bend. Justin and Carl were on the Relay team that came in fifth, which I believe is the best American placement yet.

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