The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We couldn’t have executed better”
By Than Acuff
In the end, it went surprisingly well in Italy. Crested Butte’s Cam Smith and ski partner Anna Gibson moved their way up from seventh place to fourth place over the course of the Olympic ski mountaineering (skimo) mixed relay race finishing just 15 seconds off of the podium at the Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy on Saturday, February 21.
The Olympic Games actually started for Smith on Thursday as he also qualified for the sprint event. The format consists of qualifying heats with skiers advancing through the rounds based on results. Smith made it to the semifinals before being eliminated, a first for him in the event and fuel for the fire of the main event.
“The sprint race couldn’t have gone better,” says Smith. “It was for sure the best sprint I’ve ever done, I’ve never made the semifinals in a World Cup before and was closer to the winning time than ever. I’ve always prided myself on being my best when the pressure is highest, so confirming that in the sprint made me psyched for my main event. I also just realized how fun it was to race in the Olympics. Feeling the energy of the crowd, feeling all the excitement from home and introducing the sport to the world for the first time was the most hype I’ve ever felt. So, I realized that Saturday was going to be out of this world no matter how we raced.”
He joined teammate Gibson for the mixed relay race on Saturday with expectations geared toward just being in the moment rather than the result.
“We were such underdogs that we felt like it was a victory just to be there,” says Smith. “My intention was to honor the people and values that got us to that point. Meaning if I pushed myself to the limit and executed well in the pressure then everyone would be super proud of us whether we finished first or last.”
The mixed relay starts with the women climbing up and skiing down before tagging off to the men. Then, the race is handed back to the women for a second lap before one last tag finishing with the men’s second lap.
Smith and Gibson were seeded ninth heading into the event and Gibson moved her way into seventh place on the opening lap to tag off to Smith for his first of two laps. With a mix of power, speed and smooth transitions, Smith moved up into fourth place on his first lap and the two skiers would flirt with third place before finishing in fourth overall.
“We couldn’t have executed better,” says Smith. “Since I wasn’t focused on what place we were in or evaluating how the race was going I could stay present on executing my race. That helped me pick off some of the guys that went out hard or didn’t have perfect transitions and maybe let the outside pressure affect how they raced. In the end I was side by side with the sprint gold medalist and world #1 fighting for bronze on the last lap. I raced out of my mind but in the end, he finished about 15 seconds ahead. Anna and I might be the happiest 4th place finishers in Olympic history.”
From the buildup to the racing, to the scene, to everything Olympics, Smith has nothing but great memories and experiences in his first one, and the Olympic debut of skimo.
“This was unlike anything else. The Olympics really bring the attention of the whole world and the stoke was unreal,” says Smith. “A lot of athletes struggle with the fact that individual pursuits can be a selfish endeavor, and I feel that too. Maybe you inspire some folks along the way and tell a good story but it’s hard to see sometimes. This experience was completely different. I feel like I really did something on the racecourse that made a difference. Something that really resonated with and brought joy to people. It’s the first time I’ve seen that so clearly and it feels so special to share it.”
Now it’s time to get back to Crested Butte for some rest, recuperation and, of course, skiing with no specific plans for an Olympic future.
“I’m just going to head home to CB and ski for fun through the rest of the season,” says Smith. “The Olympics were such a huge physical and mental buildup, and I want to take a step back to celebrate that and recharge for the future. So, I’m skipping the rest of the World Cup season to go skiing at home! The whole experience was better than I could have dreamed of, and I definitely want to make it happen again. When I retire from racing it’ll be because I physically can’t compete at that level anymore. Until then I’m driven to see how far I can take this.”
