Paralympic Games - Silver!

Ok, I kind of ruined the suspense with the title of this post - couldn't help myself.  I couldn't make it out to Pyeongchang for the Games, but I followed Jake's races as closely as possible from the US, with Sue Conner and Sean (who were there in person) providing added details.  Here's a recap of the week:

Conditions were beautiful in Pyeongchang - sunny and warm but plenty of snow.  Monday's 20k skate got off to a good start, with Jake feeling strong and in medal contention, ably guided by Sawyer Kesselheim - unfortunately, Jake got tired and faded to 5th as the race went on.  Wednesday's classic sprint also looked like it was going to be a special day at first - he qualified in 3rd and tied for the win in his semifinal.  After a strong showing in the finals we thought he'd won bronze, only to find him relegated to fourth after a protest by the coach of the fourth place skier.  I don't know the exact details, but apparently it had something to do with a lane change while double poling uphill.  I support the current push to protect classic skiing and enforce technique rules, but man, this was tough - if enforcement at the NCAA Championships had been this strict, half the field would have been disqualified!  This particular case was a bit extra frustrating because it had no real effect on the outcome - the gap between Jake and the fourth place skier was pretty substantial.  But those are the rules - nothing to do but hope for the best in the next race.  I got a little worried when I heard that Jake had come down with a cold going into the 10k classic on Saturday - I knew it would be mentally tough to come back after two near misses, and adding a cold on top of this could have easily sunk Jake's chances.  Turns out I had nothing to worry about - Jake won silver!!!!  Such a hard-earned and well-deserved honor.  Here's a video of the medal ceremony, and here's a press release with some quotes from Jake and Sawyer.  The last event of the Games was a 4x2.5k mixed relay - a pretty cool event where skiers of all classifications competed in the same race, with different time adjustments depending on gender and classification.  The US team finished 7th overall, with Jake posting the fastest split for the anchor leg.  Overall, a great week.  It's been a long road for Jake - lots of hard work went into this achievement.  He's trained more hours than any skier in the history of Bowdoin Nordic - the past four years have been an experiment to find out how much training is possible for a Bowdoin skier.  He's improved a ton and has put up some strong performances, but it certainly hasn't been easy - he's had no shortage of setbacks along the way.  After four years of ups and downs, it's incredibly gratifying to see Jake's career end on such a high note.  We're all so proud - can't wait to get him back on campus to hear all about his adventures!

Here are some photos, courtesy of Sue and Sean: