- U.S. luge team member Ashley Farquharson, from Park City, took home Olympic bronze on Friday.
- She originally learned luge through the Youth Sports Alliance after-school program.
- Farquharson is considering competing in 2034 in Utah, but finds it distant for now.
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy — Ashley Farquharson grew up in Park City and learned to luge on the track built for the 2002 Olympics. Now she is an Olympic medalist.
"I will always be (a) Park City girl," she said, flashing a "P" with her hand.
Forever a Park City girl, and forever an Olympic medalist.
Ashley Farquharson sped her way to bronze.
"I don't feel like it hit me till I was on the podium," she said. "It was such a whirlwind."
Luge sledders travel at freeway speeds — faster, really — 80, 85 mph. But Farquharson said the most stressful part isn't flying down the track.
"The time in between races," she said. "Just having so much time to sit there, see how fast your competitors are going, and be with your own thoughts. That's way more stressful than the run itself."
Farquharson learned to luge as a kid.
"It was the Youth Sports Alliance. It was an after-school program. Through them, I went to Ecker Hill Middle School," she said. "They would take us out to the track every Friday, and we would get some elbow pads, and they'd send us on our way. And I had a blast."
A blast then. A blast now. A blast in the future?
"I can't rule out 2034, but it does feel very far away at the moment," she said, laughing. "It would be a very incredible full-circle moment for me to compete there, but I just can't commit to that."
As Matt Gephardt was interviewing Farquharson, and hearing how she just sort of fell into the sport by having the luge track in her neighborhood, he was reminded how unique it is that Utahns have Olympic-caliber venues — just kind of around. It makes it easy to see why a third of Team USA is composed of people who, at one time or another, called Utah "home."
