Welcome to The Home Team, VTDigger’s daily Olympic dispatch. Every morning, we’ll feature the highlights of Vermonters competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Check out our full list of Vermont athletes on Team USA, and meet author Kevin O’Connor in our Olympic preview podcast.
Skiers relay for best-ever result
The U.S. women’s cross-country ski team keeps competing for its first-ever Olympic medal — and coming miraculously and/or maddeningly close to winning it.
Vermonters Sophie Caldwell and Jessie Diggins were two of the nation’s four 4×5-kilometer relay racers who collectively finished fifth this weekend, just 36.8 seconds from landing on the podium.
It’s the U.S. women’s best-ever Olympic relay result — and the fourth time Diggins has found a silver lining in a top-six finish in South Korea.
“I got to see each of my teammates ski their heart out,” the part-time Stratton resident tells Vermonter Peggy Shinn, a writer for the U.S. Olympic Committee’s website. “We’re going to walk away proud of what we did here today because there’s more to it than just medals. Seeing everyone go out there and lay down a solid race and give it everything they had, that’s what really matters.”
U.S. women have two more chances to score in the team freestyle sprint Wednesday and the 30-kilometer mass start classic Sunday.
Clark snags a medal after all
When the U.S. Olympic Committee told 2018 halfpipe champion Chloe Kim she could thank a coach with an Order of Ikkos medal, the 17-year-old decided to give it to someone else: Her teammate, Vermont-schooled Kelly Clark.
The 34-year-old who grew up in West Dover has competed in five Olympics and medaled in three. Kim cited that inspiring record as the reason for giving Clark an award named for the first recorded coach in ancient Greece.
“Everybody promotes what a talented snowboarder Chloe is, but I’m prouder of her for the person she is,” Clark tells ESPN. “I said, ‘This speaks volumes about you and about your success and accomplishments.’ And I ended up getting a medal anyway!”
Perhaps in return, Ben & Jerry’s is set to reward Kim. When the newly crowned champion tweeted she “could be down for some ice cream,” the Vermont-based company contacted her agent to say it’s preparing a cooler of products.
Could be down for some ice cream rn
— Chloe Kim (@ChloeKim) February 12, 2018
“We pay attention to what people are saying online,” Ben & Jerry’s marketing manager Jay Curley tells the Washington Post, “and we like to send out ice cream to our fans, whether they’re regular folks or celebrities.”
No word if Kim will follow in the tracks of Vermont snowboarder Hannah Teter, who received her own limited-edition flavor, Maple Blondie, after she won a halfpipe gold medal in 2006.
Looking Ahead: The U.S. women’s ice hockey team, which includes forward Amanda Pelkey of Montpelier, is set to play a semifinal against Finland today. The Americans are aiming for the gold-medal game and their first Olympic title since 1998.
