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Seth Wescott, Maine's Two Time Gold Medal Winner

March 04, 2010 - CARRABASSETT VALLEY — With a wide and peaceful smile, Seth Wescott electrified Mainers all over again Wednesday night.


Maine's two-time Olympic gold medalist in snowboardcross made his first public appearance since returning home from the Vancouver Olympics, at the most fitting of places -- the Rack, the bar he co-owns on the access road to Sugarloaf Mountain.


On Feb. 15, his friends gathered here to watch him strike gold, four years after he did it in the Turin Olympics.


On Wednesday, 150 crowded in to celebrate Wescott's unofficial homecoming and welcome home Maine's only two-time Olympic gold medalist.


After a few words, Wescott raised a pint to the crowd and offered this toast: "Here's to bringing the first and second Olympic snowboardcross gold home to Maine."


With that, the room was abuzz.

"This Olympics was so much more emotional for me," said Wescott, who has been on a whirlwind tour of sponsorship spots and media appearances since his spectacular ride to win the Olympic final. "I caught myself at least 10 times in front of the TV watching (other athletes who are friends) and just bawling my eyes out."


He took, he counted, four runs free-riding in the mountains of Whistler, the Olympic alpine skiing venue. He met high-ranking executives and filmed a spot with Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert. He thinks his face may already be in grocery stores, on the cover of Wheaties cereal boxes.


Over the next several months, Wescott will film parts of a movie for Warren Miller, the ski film maker, and will get to meet President Obama.


Despite it all, he relishes nights like Wednesday, back in Maine. "When you grow up in a small town and have an honest sense of community, (success) doesn't change you," Wescott said. "In Maine, people are so true to who they are as individuals, and I can be myself.


"They understand you are someone who works hard and has goals, but they respect you in a way that doesn't change just because you've had success," he said.


After being led into the bar by his 5-year-old friend Lily Day, the daughter of Avery Hockmeyer (the wife of his business partner, Chase McKendry), Wescott took the stage.


He told the crowd that the energy he felt from friends in the area helped him rediscover the motivation he needed in Vancouver. "I'm pretty fired up to be here," he said, wearing a paper crown made by Lily and her classmates. "The send-off I had here, I felt like I really had really great energy. There's nothing like being able to represent your country, but for me it was about representing my state of Maine."


A band started to play as Wescott went off to mingle with friends, wearing his crown the whole time.


Among the patrons was his father, Jim Wescott.


"Coming here, just to see this community, it's so wonderful as a father to see your son or daughter have this kind of support," he said. "It's really comforting to me to see this group of people here. They want to share in the happiness and excitement Seth is having."


Others came because they wouldn't have missed it.


Thomas O'Leary, 75, a longtime Sugarloaf skier who's known in these parts as "the Hawk," said, "What I like about Seth is that he's not spoiled. He's just like a regular guy."


Wescott arrived back in Maine on Tuesday afternoon, then stopped for sushi in Portland before driving north and gathering with a small group of friends at his home.


He spent the afternoon on the mountain -- Sugarloaf has received 54 inches of new snow in the past 10 days -- and did some riding.

by Jenn Menendez, March 3, 2010, Portland Press Herald


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Regions: Rangeley


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