Seconds after Ryan Cochran-Siegle dashed across the finish line to win an Olympic silver medal for the United States in the men’s super-G on Tuesday, he abruptly stopped next to a television camera. Peering at the lens, Cochran-Siegle, in homage to his home state, said: “What’s up Vermont?”
He added: “Call you in a minute, Mom.” And soon, he did reach his mother, Barbara Ann Cochran, another lifelong Vermonter who won an Alpine Olympic gold medal 50 years ago.
The need to immediately connect to family and a place was a natural instinct for Cochran-Siegle. His is a unique story in the ski racing world, where nurturing an elite performer is usually exceptionally costly.