Eight short months ago, I was on a mountain top two hours outside of downtown Beijing, China, watching as the woman regarded as one of the world's best alpine skiers, had what can only be described as the worst few days of her competition career.
It was tough watching Mikaela Shiffrin go through what she went through following disappointing non-finishes in the Beijing Winter Olympics and it led to my most read blog post by far and stoked many discussions both in Beijing and back at home in the United States.
What made me think of this was the week that Mikaela just had, which can only be described as possibly one of the best weeks of her competition career, with three wins in a row, which pushes her closer to Lindsey Vonn's record for World Cup wins for a woman and closer to Ingemar Stenmark's record for World Cup wins for anyone and made her only the third person in history to record 80 World Cup wins.
It was truly remarkable to follow the races while I was covering the numerous high school holiday tournaments in Conway, Gilford, Farmington and Laconia. To see how different things can be in less than a year is amazing. Of course, most everyone who follows alpine skiing had to know that Mikaela would be just fine, even after the unusual performances in Beijing. After all, she's insanely talented and a true leader in the sport. People like that don't stay down for long.
Looking back, it has been a long year since those three weeks in China covering the world's elite athletes as they took to the ice and snow. There's been a few championships won along the way (and while I was in China), there's been spring and fall sports seasons and now we're back to the winter again. There's been a summer full of all sorts of sporting events, from the return of the Granite Man and Granite Kid Triathlons in Wolfeboro to Cal Ripken tournaments around the Lakes Region. I got the chance to drive a NASCAR car prior to the series returning to New Hampshire Motor Speedway and I made a ton of donuts, pies and gingerbread men in my side gig at the Yum Yum Shop (which pays for those trips to the Olympics every few years).
As we turn to a new year, I have moved from the apartment I have lived in for more than 20 years to a new place in Wolfeboro, a process that has not been fun and involved moving most of my big furniture in the rain, thanks to the help from my brother, Jared, and the use of the truck from Bob Tuttle. I am still trying to get settled in the new place, but five days in a row of holiday tournament action has left me little time, so for now, I wander between boxes and furniture to get from the bed to the bathroom and back.
And 2022 also brought another Olympic credential application process getting under way, as the road to Paris 2024 is officially under way, with expected announcements of credential approvals coming in the new year. While there are no Olympics in 2023, if I decide I'm going to Paris, the process will all unfold this coming year.
It should be interesting, one way or the other.
Climbing high into the mountains to see the women's slalom at the Beijing Olympics involved riding a few gondolas.
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