There’s been an interesting trend in the Olympic reporting this year, and it’s not a “kinder, gentler” one…not by a long shot.  For years, we’ve been unhappy with news outlets that say things like “so-and-so will be a hero if he wins the gold medal”; frankly, just being able to go out there on the world stage, watched by millions, and not freeze up entirely is an amazing accomplishment.  Winning is the icing on the cake…doing, particularly when it hurts, when you’re scared, training all year long, not having a “real life” so that you can represent your country…that’s the real heroism.

With that said, it’s time for us to take a stand on some of what our media brethren are saying out there.  And the coverage of the Lindsey Jacobellis Olympics story is perfect for making the point.  You’ve probably seen it already…she’s a turkey, she messed up, she should have won gold, what a disgrace.  Arguably the worst of all of them is an article posted on Yahoo! Sports.  In our opinion, that article is an absolute disgrace.  The tone is insulting…she’s a bungler, a hotdogger, she hasn’t learned her lessons.  Her effort after being disqualified in making a “grab” to give the crowd something to look at, to maybe get a small cheer, to maybe lift her bruised spirits, is ridiculed.  As a DQ’d racer, the writer says she “took her own sweet time” getting to the finish.  Frankly, a lot of racers simply go off the course and never GO to the finish line, given the chance.

Now, just for grins, let’s look at one particular fact.  More than HALF of the racers fell on that course in the qualifying rounds.  The course was slushy, icy, and covered with ruts. Two racers 2 inches apart might have totally different conditions…one might have a smooth line, the other a rut or bump.  And with that much frozen junk on the course, a racer could easily be taken down by a chunk spit out by someone in front of them.  To not acknowledge the horrible conditions and the effect they’re having on everybody’s results is journalistically irresponsible. We’ve commented on the conditions before…but they haven’t gotten much better, and it’s affecting everyone.

Talk to Seth Wescott.  He’s a hero…he won gold.  And in his first qualifying run, he spun out 360 degrees.  But, this is the qualifying round, so he gets a second chance…and goes on to have a great run and a well deserved gold medal.  But the luck of the draw says that those runs could easily have been reversed, and he’d have been the punching bag for yellow journalism.

Talk to the women’s downhill racers.  Anyone who watched those finals knows what the snow conditions were…or were those ice conditions?  Another Lindsey, this one named Vonn, was a hero with a gold medal, overcoming incredible shin pain to lay down a run that had most watchers screaming or in tears.  But a few runs later, we saw her in tears as Swede Anja Paerson, a top medal pick, had a fall that shocked even a seasoned pro like Vonn.  Did she show disgust for her competitor’s failings?  No…horror, shock, and compassion were the only expressions we saw.  That’s a real pro at work, and we honor her more for that sign of humanity than for winning the medal.

The fact is, all of these athletes are out there doing their very best.  They’re carrying the weight of our hopes and dreams on their shoulders, and they know it…and they persevere.  Did Lindsey Jacobellis deserve negative press after her hotdog move in the 2006 Games?  Sure…even though it was the act of an exuberant 20 year old, it showed a lack of maturity that we really don’t expect to see in an Olympic athlete.  She’s older now, although still a kid by a lot of standards, and she’s grown.  She put her heart into her run, as she has every time she’s gone out on the snow in the last 4 years (very successfully, we might add).  We’re proud to have her representing us at the Olympics, as we are every athlete who does their best.  We also have to admit that we’re proud that she’s an Easterner (like some guy named Bode Miller, and another named Seth Wescott, among many others!); she learned her craft right here at Stratton Mountain and  the  Stratton Mountain School.  Her mistake makes her like us…not perfect, not at that moment, not at every moment.  None of us are.  So, to Lindsey, and to “other” Lindsey, and to all of you other Olympic athletes, some known and some not, our helmets are off to you…and know that whatever cheap shot some media type wants to take at you, you’re the real deal…and we’re just spectators.  Thank you for giving us joy, for letting us share your glory and your heartache…you’re all heroes.