They won triple crowns in different eras, but skiers race into Hall of Fame together |
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| | In the history of the world, just five male skiers have won what is known as the triple crown — finishing first in three different disciplines at either the World Championships or Olympic Games. Tonight, two of them will be inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame. Park City native son Ted Ligety and Park City adopted son Stein Eriksen will increase the Hall’s numbers to 256 athletes, joining a 2023 class that also includes basketball coach Dave Rose, fencer Julie Thompson Seal and sportswriter Tom Wharton. The 38-year old Ligety, who retired from competitive ski racing just 21⁄2 years ago, admits he is as surprised as anyone that he’s sharing the night with the legendary Stein Eriksen, who died at the age of 88 seven years ago. After a disappointing outcome at the 1948 Olympics, Eriksen decided to go against conventional wisdom and use the shoulder nearest the pole to lead into the turn. This reverse-shoulder style allowed him to turn closer to the gates. In the next Olympics, on home snow in Oslo in 1952, the Eriksen legend was born when he won gold in the giant slalom and silver in the slalom. As for Ligety, who started skiing at the age of 2 on the runs at Park City, he spent countless hours honing and refining a style that linked turns together practically nonstop, allowing him to ski farther away from the gates, in direct contrast to Eriksen, and generate the kind of speed that won races sometimes by seconds instead of tenths of seconds. For seven years, from 2008 through 2014, Ligety was the world’s preeminent giant slalom skier. During that time, he won gold in 24 World Cup races, was the world’s giant slalom overall champion five times, and capped it off with Olympic gold at Sochi in 2014. |
Read more about Ligety's thoughts on replacing Eriksen as Deer Valley’s ambassador of skiing. |
| Utah was just acknowledged by WalletHub as the happiest state in the nation, and it’s no secret that Utah leads many state performance rankings in America. From the economy — including growth, a favorable business climate, work environment and economic mobility — to life satisfaction, Beehive State residents enjoy enviable levels of success. What’s the key to Utah’s prosperity and emotional happiness? Research shows that the family factor is a big part of what some have described as “the Utah Miracle.” Strong families make for thriving communities of men, women and children across the state, write Brad Wilcox, David Bass and Derek Monson. Yet despite the fact that robust families are a big reason why the Beehive State flourishes on so many fronts, many state agencies reporting data to decision-makers fail to include key marriage and family metrics. This is concerning because Utah’s family strengths have witnessed some erosion in recent years, following the general trends in the nation at large. In other words, policymakers may not be getting the full story regarding the state’s future challenges and the resources needed to meet those challenges. Wilcox, Bass and Monson recommend Utah stage agencies, like the State Board of Education, begin to collect family data so decision-makers and lawmakers can arrive at more comprehensive and long-lasting solutions to deficiencies and disparities in education, health and crime. Read more about why strong families matter when it comes to succeeding in school. |
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