Six-Pack, Anyone?

by Peter Stenson

Call me crazy, but Wednesday made me a little bit more proud to be an American. Me – I’m sitting on the couch watching sporting events I’ve barely heard of, rocking my sweatpants and eating potato chips, cheering with all my might as the US accomplished a national Olympic best by taking home six medals in one day.

Six in one day. I felt the need for apple pie.

Starting on the slopes, Lindsey Vonn, our young skiing wunderkind, fought through a severely bruised shin to claim a gold in women’s downhill. Fellow American, Julia Mancuso took home a silver. It was the first time since 1984 that an American pair finished first and second in an Alpine event.

Then it was off to the rink. It’s funny how much I all of a sudden cared about men’s speed skating. After finally figuring out why they heck the skaters kept switching lanes, I was so caught up watching Shani Davis defend his gold in the 1,000 meters, that I was standing. That’s a big deal if you know me. I was screaming at the television, urging him to get moving, each split a little closer to the leader, until he flew through the last turn to take gold. American Chad Hedrick placed third. That’s three and four.

Then it was back to the slopes, this time for men’s halfpipe. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite events. What these kids are doing is…well, how would they describe it? Sick? Nasty? Filthy? I’m not sure but it is absolutely ridiculous. They are doing two flips mixed with three rotations fifteen feet out of the lip. It had bloody crashes, blasting music, and fans chanting for snowboarding God Sean White. And he delivered. Already having won gold after his first of two runs, White debated with his coach at the top of the halfpipe about what to do. Should he just ride down the middle? He asked. His coach told him no. Should I do the double McTwist? Sean asked.

And after a second perfect run, nearly out of speed at the bottom of the halfpipe, White pulled off his double McTwist, a trick that he alone can do. That was for the fans. That was for America. Countryman Scotty Lago, the bronze medal winner, mauled White at the end of the run. That’s five and six.

Six medals. I may or may not have been crying.

But really I was. Because there is something more powerful than I know how to explain that happens to me, to us, when it’s Olympic time. When I get the back-story of an obscure athlete, when I hear about the difficulties they have overcome, the hours a day they train to do something I know nothing about, and then they deliver, they show perfection. Their parents are crying. Fans are changing. They drape the American flag over their shoulders. And me – still in my sweats with chips crumbled in my beard, I feel somehow like I was part of that. And it makes me proud.