The three-episode series, “Behind the Gold,” opens with hometown ski hero Ted Ligety who Kelly notes won his first gold medal at the 2006 Winter Games.
“We went through a lot of different athletes,” Kelly said. “I think we looked at about a dozen or so. I think this represents a great cross section. We wanted to make sure that we had a paralympic athlete. We want to make sure we had a man and a woman. And Ted's a great story because he grew up right here in Park City.”
Ligety started ski racing because that’s what his friends did.
“I just fell in love with it when Tommy Moe was in the Olympics in ‘94 which is like, the first year I was on the Park City Ski Team with Dar,” Ligety said. “I was like, ‘Oh, that’s awesome. I want to become a ski racer.’ And so that's kind of when the dream kicked off for me. And then I was lucky, we had the World Cup here every year. So, I saw my heroes, like Alberto Tomba and Michael von Grünigen, and people that were big heroes going up racing on the hill that I trained on every single day.”
Today, Ligety keeps busy on and off the slopes. He serves as an ambassador for Deer Valley Resort and also works with DPS Skis in Salt Lake to help develop their new products.
“I'm a ski nerd. I love the engineering side of things,” he said. “I love tinkering with equipment. That's part of why I started Shred. It’s really fun to have that quick iterative process and be making skis in Utah. So, to see what we're doing on the advanced side of things, with carbon fiber and really trying to push the limits… that's fun to go nerd out on ski equipment. It’s something I've always dreamed about doing.”
That’s in addition to running his helmet and eye protection company, Shred, and being a dad to three young boys.
Ted Ligety will join Kelly on stage at the Eccles Center Saturday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased here.
Later this winter, Paralympian Chris Wadell, one of the most decorated para-athletes who won medals in four consecutive Winter Paralympics, will join Kelly on Dec. 27. Then, Picabo Street, who was raised in Idaho but has made Park City her home, will be highlighted on Feb. 28.
