“I just wanted to make the most of a second chance”
BONGPYEONG, SOUTH KOREA» The gratitude hasn’t faded over the years for Vail-raised Chris Del Bosco. He still loves Canada, the country he says saved his life with a second chance 12 years ago.
The Colorado Springs-born veteran of Canada’s powerhouse skicross team was on top of the world in the early 2000s. He was a rising star on the U.S. Ski Team. He had national alpine ski titles and even a national mountain bike title. After a string of trouble following battles with alcohol and marijuana, he found himself close to death in a ditch after a drunken blackout. He was 21. He went to rehab but lost his berth on the U.S. Ski Team. He was stripped of those bestin-the-U.S titles.
But Canada came calling, rolling the dice on a scarred but gifted, young athlete. With a Canadian father, he joined the Canadian ski team and helped build an international force in skicross, becoming a legend in the sport. This week he will compete in his third Olympics, stronger than ever and a contender for the Olympic medal missing from his well-stocked trophy shelf.
“I thought the Olympic dream was long gone, and right when I was getting my act together the opportunity presented itself in Canada and I wanted to make the most of a second chance,” said the 35-year-old with a world championship gold and five skicross medals from the X Games, which first seeded skiing’s most thrilling sport at the second-ever Winter X Games in Crested Butte in 1998. “And Canada has been so good to me, and this team is so strong.”
Del Bosco is vying for Canada’s first men’s Olympic medal in skicross, which debuted at the 2010 Vancouver Games after its birth more than 20 years earlier in California. The horse race on skis — with six-at-atime skiers weaving down a steep and narrow track of jumps and berms — is one of the most popular events among spectators.
“Everybody gets it. First one down wins,” Del Bosco said after training on the PyeongChang Olympic course Monday with his Stockli skis nicknamed “Silver Fox” in honor of his favorite NASCAR racer, David Pearson. (All his skis are named in honor of his NASCAR heroes.)
France’s formidable men swept the podium at the Sochi Olympics four years ago in Russia, and the gold and silver medalists are back to defend their medals. Canada brought four athletes, with Brady Leman, Sochi’s fourth-place finisher, joining Del Bosco as the veterans on the team.
After a couple days of practice at the Olympic course at Phoenix Park Resort, the skicross athletes are working with race organizers to adjust the course. Racers have been carrying too much speed into the drag race out of the final turn, and they are flying deep off the three final jumps. Dangerously deep.
“They need to find a way to slow us down in here, and it’s just not happening,” Leman said as medical crews carted off a woman injured on the final jump during practice. “It’s pretty gnarly. You have to be prepared to go deep on these last three features.”
Del Bosco, who missed the podium at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, said the PyeongChang course plays to his strengths and experience.
“I’ve been around a while, so I’ve seen a bit of it all, and these are definitely the kinds of tracks I like the most. The bigger the better,” he said. “We don’t see a lot of these kinds of courses on the world cup, so some of the newer guys might not have the experience. I feel comfortable up there.”
Del Bosco tends to shine when racing side by side. He said he performs better on skis when he’s in pursuit or getting chased.
“I love racing head to head. I tend to do better when it’s head to head and it’s all on the line,” said Del Bosco, who has been sober for more than a dozen years and is dating Canadian gold medal cross boss Marielle Thompson.
Del Bosco never questions his move to Team Canada. Especially because skicross is withering in its birthplace. The U.S. has no cross skiers in PyeongChang and has never won an Olympic medal in the event.
“The U.S. guys, they’re struggling because there’s just no support, which is frustrating,” Del Bosco said.