Vermonters reclaim Olympic gold

Author: Christine Fsher

Of the 211 athletes representing the United States at the XX Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy, seven proudly hail from Vermont: Andy Newell of Shaftsbury, Andrew Johnson of Greensboro, Chip Knight of Stowe, Hannah Kearney of Norwich, Hannah Teter of Belmont, Lindsey Jacobellis of Stratton, and Kelly Clark of West Dover.

Newell and Johnson are cross-country skiers, Knight is an alpine skier, Kearney is a freestyle skier, specializing in moguls, and Teter, Jacobellis, and Clark compete in the two snowboarding events, the standard halfpipe and its lesser-known cousin, the snowboardcross, or boardercross, which makes its Olympic debut this year.

Kearney, though an Olympic rookie, was initially the gold medal favorite for freestyle skiing, mainly on account of her shining performance at the 2005 world championships, where she placed first. Unfortunately, she did not even make it to the finals after a terrible run did not qualify her to advance to the next round.

With Kearney out of the mix, the girls on the snowboarding circuit have been responsible for accumulating the most Vermont bling thus far, with Teter taking gold in the halfpipe and Jacobellis seizing silver in the new snowboardcross event. Clark, who conquered the halfpipe in 2002, just narrowly missed a place on the medals podium this year, as she earned fourth place for her performance in the same event. Even so, the successes of Teter and Jacobellis bring the running total for medals won in snowboarding by natives of the Green Mountain State to five: in addition to Clark's 2002 gold, Ross Powers has snatched two medals for Vermont, a halfpipe bronze in 1998 and a gold in 2002.

The snowboardcross mainly differs from the halfpipe in that it is not scored by judges; instead, it is a race, plain and simple. Four snowboarders leave the gate and the first one to the bottom, after a long series of jumps and other obstacles on a 1500 meter course, is the winner. Attempting to earn stylistic points for "artistic impression" is therefore not truly necessary. All that really matters -- to win, anyway -- is getting to the bottom of the slope first.

For Jacobellis, remembering this simple piece of information may have meant the difference between silver and gold. With a substantial fifty yard lead, it seemed fairly certain that Jacobellis would win the race, making her the second Vermonter to strike gold in five days - Teter had won the halfpipe a few days earlier on February 13. However, when an overly stylistic jump landed Jacobellis on her back instead of her feet, Switzerland's Tanja Frieden glided on by to unexpectedly take first place.

Jacobellis, who attended Stratton Mountain School, commented on the jump that cost her the gold: "I was having fun. Snowboarding is fun. I was ahead. I wanted to share my enthusiasm with the crowd. I messed up." Peter Foley, the U.S. Snowboarding Head Coach, did not seem to harbor any animosity toward Jacobellis, either, as he echoed a similar attitude: "If she tweaked it too much, so what? If she got caught up in the moment, what're you going to do? If people think that's a big deal, they still miss the point of snowboarding, probably."

This stylistic aspect of the sport, the part about getting caught up in the moment and being less concerned with the final outcome than the performance itself, seems aptly expressed through the bold motto of the Vermont Militia (V.T.M.), a group to which fellow Olympian and Stratton Mountain School attendee Newell belongs, that reads quite clearly and simply: "I'm from Vermont; I do what I want."

Newell, as evidenced by his mere membership in the V.T.M, is one of the edgier Olympians whose biography proved to be quite interesting reading material. Though a cross country skier by trade (he competes in the sprint and team sprint events), Newell, staying loyal to his "do what he wants" mantra, has discovered innovative ways to blend cross country skiing with snowboarding and alpine skiing.

While attending Stratton Mountain School, he noted that his friends were mostly alpine skiers and snowboarders. When they would all go out and ski together, he would hit the terrain park, halfpipe, and tabletops in a most unconventional manner - using his cross country skis. Newell's unique approach to the sport has been coined "extreme cross country" and is steadily picking up speed and popularity.

The Olympic roster also boasts two Middlebury College attendees, Andrew Johnson and Jimmy Cochran. Johnson attended Middlebury until 1999 and this is his second Olympic performance: he also competed in the 2002 Games, with his best finish in the 30 km freestyle. Jimmy Cochran, not mentioned earlier because he grew up in New Hampshire, skied for both Middlebury and the University of Vermont. He makes his Olympic debut at Torino in the alpine skiing events.