Tuesday’s Olympic action was highlighted by Parkite Rosie Brennan finishing just off the podium in fourth in the women’s cross-country sprint.
The sprints pit a handful of racers in a head-to-head format with the fastest skiers from each heat advancing.
The fastest American in qualifying, Brennan managed to recover from a missed pole plant that resulted in a fall in her first quarterfinal heat. She fought back to ultimately finish second and advance to the semifinals. She said the fall “certainly made it interesting” and added that fighting back in the quarterfinal was one of the hardest races of her career.
Brennan finished fourth in her semifinal heat, which didn’t guarantee her a spot in the final, but was able to qualify as a “lucky loser” by virtue of her time being faster than the racers in the other semifinal heat.
Brennan finished just behind teammate Jessie Diggins in third, who won the United States' first ever Olympic sprint medal.
Brennan said she was feeling a lot of emotion after the race, but was proud of her fight.
Although not a Park City native, Vermont’s Ryan Cochran-Siegle took silver in the men’s super-G on Tuesday. Cochran-Siegle spends a significant amount of his time in the offseason training in Park City at the U.S. Ski Team’s Center of Excellence.
Cochran-Siegle’s mom, Barbara Ann, was also the Olympic slalom champion from the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. Cochran-Siegle’s silver came almost 50 years to the day after his mom’s gold.
He called his result “the best second place [he’ll] ever get in his life.”
After his Olympics was in jeopardy due to COVID-19 protocols, Park City speed skater Casey Dawson made it to Beijing just hours before competing in the men’s 1,500 meters. Dawson had to borrow skates after his did not arrive on time and ultimately finished 28th.
After the race, Dawson said “I got to the line, that is all that matters. I am now an Olympian.”
Park City’s Ashley Farqharson also finished 12th in women’s luge, just under three seconds off of German gold medalist Natalie Giesenberger.
Local athletes continue competing on Wednesday with Alex Hall and Colby Stevenson in men’s skiing big air, and Stephen Schumann and Jared Schumate in men’s 10k nordic combined.
