CORTINA, Italy – Young is a Craftsbury GRP skier and a North Country Union graduate. He wrote this for EnjoyWinter Athlete Force on Feb. 14.
“The Olympic classic sprint, the only race I had any chance of competing in, has come and gone. It was even easier than I thought it would be to just be a part of a great U.S. Men’s team and not dwell on my lack of racing. Why? Because Ben Ogden won a silver medal! It’s hard to describe how much this result means for U.S. Skiing as a whole. Anyone who has been paying attention to Ben, Gus (Schumacher) and JC (Schoonmaker) over the past few years knows that something special has been building, and Ben finally broke through on the biggest stage in the world for cross country skiing. I am so incredibly happy for him and for the implications for this Men’s squad in the future. The result shows exactly what’s possible for all of us, and it’s quite motivating for me knowing that in the next Olympics, the sprint will be freestyle.”
After Young wrote that, Ogden and Schumacher won another silver medal in the team sprint competition. That medal, along with Jessie Diggins’ bronze in the 10 km freestyle race, made this the most successful Olympics ever for the United States. Ben is from Landgrove and his medals are only the 2nd and 3rd Olympic medals ever for the men’s team, with the last medal being won by Bill Koch in 1976.
Diggins is the most decorated cross country skier for the U.S. with several World Cup overall titles, three Olympic medals and dozens of top finishes on the World Cup circuit. She is retiring after this season and had trained and lived in Stratton much of the past 10-15 years.
