STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Placerville, Idaho, has fewer residents than the number of Olympians and Paralympians associated with Sun Valley.
Ditto for Atomic City, Lowman, Clayton and seven other towns.
Heck, Stanley just boasts 68 residents—13 more than the 55 Olympians and Paralympians Sun Valley boasts. And you can betcha the number of Olympians associated with Sun Valley will continue to grow.
The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation threw its annual salute to the Olympics Wednesday evening at Ketchum Town Square. And the stage would’ve sagged under the weight of Olympians had it been wooden.
Olympic Day is celebrated in towns that boast Olympic training sites in 160 countries around the world. The SVSEF has staged friendly tug of war and other competitions among its 650-plus athletes for the past few years since becoming an official training site. But this year the organization decided to expand the celebration to encompass the community.
“We wanted to give the community a chance to celebrate the Olympic spirit,” said Sam Adicoff, the organization’s executive director.
The event honors the core values of the Olympics, such as performing to the best of your ability, which are also core values embraced by the SVSEF, he said. And it honors individuals who have dedicated themselves to becoming strong athletes with strong character.
“It also honors our rich Olympic history. Our Olympians and Paralympians are deservedly proud of their accomplishments and we share in their pride,” he said.
The Olympians associated with Sun Valley span a breadth of sports from high jumper Dick Fosbury, who perfected the Fosbury Flop, to bicyclist Greg Randolph.
At least two Olympic hockey players—Dates Fryberger and Hilary Knight—took the stage.
Knight, the feisty forward who will compete in her third Olympics in 2018 in Pyongyang, North Korea, said she was she loves that the community is so supportive of its Olympic athletes.
“It’s my favorite place,” she said. “It’s so active.”
Muffy Davis, who medaled in two Winter Paralympics on a monoski and one Summer Olympics on handcycle, cut the ribbon on a new plaque soaring above the town square that recognizes Sun Valley’s Paralympians.
Four of them, she noted, came up in the SVSEF program. One—Nordic racer Jake Adicoff—plans to compete in his second Paralympics in Pyongyang, North Korea.
Davis said she is seeking a spot on an International Paralympics Committee board in hopes of expanding Paralympic participation, particularly in winter sports. Currently, about 600 Paralympians compete in winter and 1,500 in summer.
“It’s about a movement,” she said, “It’s about a movement of inclusion for people with impairments in society. And I find sports is one of the most powerful ways to gain inclusion. For me the Paralympics gave me a way to be the person I was born to be.”
Maria Maricich, an Olympic downhill racer who was born and raised in Sun Valley, said she only remembered one event celebrating the community’s Olympians prior to last year’s celebration held during the 2016 National Alpine Championships.
“These celebrations are fun. And I find the community is curious—they want to know more about you,” she said. “It inspires youngsters coming up in the program, for sure. For me, I look back and I’m reminded of the great inner strength I had to do what I did.”