Ryan Cochran-Siegle.Photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Ryan Cochran-Siegle is continuing his family legacy of Olympic glory.
Cochran-Siegle, a two-time Olympian, spoke with reporters after his second-place victory, saying, “What I really want to take away from today is that … when I’m skiing my best, I can go out and contend with the rest.”
“I think some people say how second place is, like, hard. I think this was the best second place that I’ll ever get in my life,” he added,ESPN reported.
There was an added layer of special to Cochran-Siegle’s big moment: it came almost 50 years to the day after his mother Barbara Cochran, now 71, won the women’s slalom gold medal at the 1972 Olympics.
Ryan Cochran-Siegle.Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
Speaking to NBC Olympicsafter her son’s victory, Cochran admitted, “I cried for a long time. I just couldn’t stop crying.”
“I knew he was capable of this,” said Cochran. “I wasn’t sure it would happen at the Olympics. Somebody said on the telecast, maybe it was Steve Porino or Ted Ligety, that Ryan wasn’t quite whole yet, with the injuries and the trauma [after breaking his neck in a fall 13 months ago]. There were cells in his body and his mind that seemed to be saying, ‘Ryan, we’re not doing this again.’ But tonight they did it.”
In his own interview with the outlet, Cochran-Siegle said he spoke to his mom via FaceTime after his silver-medal finish.
“My mom, it was just about how proud she was,” he said. “I can’t even remember all of it. It was pretty emotional. My mother had success, and such a storied career. It shows that it’s possible for anyone.”
To learn more about Team USA, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, now, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.
source: people.com
