Picabo Street at the 2010 Games

1998 gold medalist big fan of American skiers.

Olympians of all kinds are roaming the streets of Vancouver, Canada, these days. I ran into Picabo Street this week.

An Alpine ski racer, Street won gold at the Nagano Games in 1998 games. She had a lot to say about the 21st Olympic Winter games.

“At this winter games, the Americans are doing amazing,” she said. “ It has been so fun to be here, and to be American.”

Street said she is a big fan of American alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, whom she met years ago when Vonn was a kid.

“I met Lindsey when she was 9 years old,” Street said. “She looked at me with an intensity and focus that was very apparent at that age. I think Lindsey is spectacular.”

I could not resist asking her how it feels to be on the Olympic podium, winning gold.

“Receiving a gold medal is something I struggle to put words to,” she said. “It is amazing, it was a dream come true.”

Street told me how long she had been dreaming about this miracle.

“It was something I dreamed of since I was 10 years old,” she said. “This is what I have wished for on the first star I see at night, on my birthday cakes, on 11:11 on the clock, on anything that you could come up with that’s wish-worthy. I was making a wish to win a gold medal in the Olympics.”

She described the actual moment on the podium.

“I kind of looked over at them [the other athletes] like, ‘This is really intense, isn’t it?’ And they agreed,” she said.

Street had some advice for kids who dream of being in the Olympic games.

“You have to work hard. First and foremost, you have to never give up,” she said. “Remember to smile. Remember you’re worth it.”

—Daniel Wetter

Photo: Kid Reporter Daniel Wetter and gold medalist Picabo Street at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, CAnada. (Photo Courtesy Daniel Wetter)

Comments

[bob]

picabo, you are awsome !!:)