Vermont Skiers Bring Home 3 Olympic Medals

Three Olympic medalists proved that Vermont grit can conquer the world's biggest stage.

Ben Ogden, Ryan Cochran-Siegle, and Paula Moltzan brought silver and bronze medals home to Vermont two months after competing in Milan Cortina. The trio gathered with their community in Stowe on Saturday to celebrate their historic achievements.

Ogden ended a 50-year podium drought for U.S. cross-country skiing with his silver medal. The Landgrove native said representing Vermont on the world stage felt incredible.

Cochran-Siegle added another chapter to his family's Olympic legacy by winning silver in super G exactly 54 years after his mother won gold. He said growing up in a family of skiers never felt like pressure, just a celebration of collective athletic spirit.

Moltzan rounded out Vermont's medal haul with a bronze, adding to the state's unexpected Olympic dominance this year.

Why This Inspires

All three athletes credit their Vermont training conditions for their success. Those brutal winter days that would send most people running indoors actually built the mental toughness they needed to win.

"A lot of grit skiing in Vermont," Moltzan explained. "You're not gonna have a lot of good days. You'll probably have more bad days than good days when it comes to weather, but it makes you tough."

Ogden agreed, saying Vermont athletes know how to put their heads down and get things done. That hardscrabble approach served him well when he decided to stop putting pressure on himself and just enjoy racing.

The skiers said watching each other succeed at the Olympics made the enormous stage feel smaller. Cochran-Siegle said seeing Vermont represented so prominently actually took pressure off his own performance.

The three champions are now resting before starting their offseason training programs, already looking ahead to future competitions.