Winning Olympic gold puts an athlete’s story in the history books. Ryan Cochran-Siegle carries an Olympic legacy with him every day, but he is determined to write his own story.“If there are medals to be won, he would be one of the ones to pull that off,” Barbara Ann Cochran, Ryan’s mother said.An Olympian preparing for second games, hoping this time to stand atop a podium in Beijing.“I would not be there alone. I would be there because of so many people,” Cochran-Siegle said.One of those people is his mother, Barbara Ann Cochran, who won a gold medal skiing for Team USA at the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, exactly 50 years ago.“No pressure Ryan,” Cochran said.And there truly is no pressure from the Cochran family.“I feel like I don’t notice it or think about it, a lot of times it seems that people assume there is more pressure than there is,” Cochran-Siegle said.“Just being in the family, it was all about, whatever game you were playing, what sport you were doing, it was all about fun, making sure it was fun,” Cochran said.Instead of supporting with technical advice, the Olympic Gold medalist took a different parenting route.“She’s my mom, that’s where her influence with ski racing goes,” Cochran-Siegle said.“Rather than hashing out how they did and all of that, the best thing you can say to them is, ‘I love to watch you ski, that’s it,’” Cochran said.Alleviating pressure, and allowing her son to ski his own trail.“There is enough of a separation between what my mom was able to accomplish and what I am going through now, as every athlete you all have your own story,” Cochran-Siegle said.Ryan lived his story’s toughest chapter this past year. “I’ve gone full circle, I’m back at where I got hurt,” Cochran-Siegle said.“At Kitzbuhel last year, that’s where he took that really bad fall and broke his neck,” Cochran said.Cochran-Siegle was heading full-speed down the mountain when he lost balance and crashed through the barrier. Mom, watching from home, living a mother’s worst nightmare.“I saw him fall, immediately my sister texted me and said, he’s OK, he’s OK, he’s moving, he’s OK…I pray to the angels,” Cochran said.Luckily, he was OK, suffering a minor cervical spine fracture, but Barbara Ann knows her son.“He’s always bounced back,” Cochran said.Two hundred seventy five days later, Ryan was racing again, getting ready for a shot at his second Olympics. “Just getting a good mindset for race day. Just really trusting the skiing, and really focusing on the skiing, that’s where I try to put my head at,” Cochran-Siegle said.As he heads into Olympic competition with a ton of momentum.“In terms of what I am capable of, the sky is the limit but it’s about the process more than the results,” Cochran-Siegle said.“He is capable of winning,” Cochran said.Which would be another chapter in Ryan’s story.
Winning Olympic gold puts an athlete’s story in the history books.
Ryan Cochran-Siegle carries an Olympic legacy with him every day, but he is determined to write his own story.
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“If there are medals to be won, he would be one of the ones to pull that off,” Barbara Ann Cochran, Ryan’s mother said.
An Olympian preparing for second games, hoping this time to stand atop a podium in Beijing.
“I would not be there alone. I would be there because of so many people,” Cochran-Siegle said.
One of those people is his mother, Barbara Ann Cochran, who won a gold medal skiing for Team USA at the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, exactly 50 years ago.
“No pressure Ryan,” Cochran said.
And there truly is no pressure from the Cochran family.
“I feel like I don’t notice it or think about it, a lot of times it seems that people assume there is more pressure than there is,” Cochran-Siegle said.
“Just being in the family, it was all about, whatever game you were playing, what sport you were doing, it was all about fun, making sure it was fun,” Cochran said.
Instead of supporting with technical advice, the Olympic Gold medalist took a different parenting route.
“She’s my mom, that’s where her influence with ski racing goes,” Cochran-Siegle said.
“Rather than hashing out how they did and all of that, the best thing you can say to them is, ‘I love to watch you ski, that’s it,’” Cochran said.
Alleviating pressure, and allowing her son to ski his own trail.
“There is enough of a separation between what my mom was able to accomplish and what I am going through now, as every athlete you all have your own story,” Cochran-Siegle said.
Ryan lived his story’s toughest chapter this past year.
“I’ve gone full circle, I’m back at where I got hurt,” Cochran-Siegle said.
“At Kitzbuhel last year, that’s where he took that really bad fall and broke his neck,” Cochran said.
Cochran-Siegle was heading full-speed down the mountain when he lost balance and crashed through the barrier. Mom, watching from home, living a mother’s worst nightmare.
“I saw him fall, immediately my sister texted me and said, he’s OK, he’s OK, he’s moving, he’s OK…I pray to the angels,” Cochran said.
Luckily, he was OK, suffering a minor cervical spine fracture, but Barbara Ann knows her son.
“He’s always bounced back,” Cochran said.
Two hundred seventy five days later, Ryan was racing again, getting ready for a shot at his second Olympics.
“Just getting a good mindset for race day. Just really trusting the skiing, and really focusing on the skiing, that’s where I try to put my head at,” Cochran-Siegle said.
As he heads into Olympic competition with a ton of momentum.
“In terms of what I am capable of, the sky is the limit but it’s about the process more than the results,” Cochran-Siegle said.
“He is capable of winning,” Cochran said.
Which would be another chapter in Ryan’s story.
