Photo courtesy of Shannon Bahrke

• The odds a silver medal at the Winter Olympics was awarded to the United States are 1 in 5.85

Hello to everyone out there. I want to introduce myself. My name is Shannon Bahrke and I am a 12-year member of the U.S. Freestyle Mogul Ski Team. I have been officially named to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver and it really is like a dream come true!! This will be my third time competing in the Olympics and I want to share my experience with you.

Most of you will be watching all of us compete from the comfort of your own living room on your enormous flat screen TV. That is such a great way to see a small glimpse of the Olympics, but I want to give you an athlete’s perspective of what happens on the “inside.” The real story of what it takes to get to the Olympics and everything that comes along with it.

But before I get to all of that fun stuff I want to tell you a little bit about myself. I am 29 years old and was born and raised in Lake Tahoe, CA. I started skiing at the age of 3 and started skiing freestyle when I was 13. I have two of the best parents in the entire world, Trilla and Dick, and a younger brother named Scotty, who is a member of the U.S. Freestyle Aerial Ski Team. I am engaged to the man of my dreams, Matt Happe, and we are getting married this fall in Kauai.

I couldn’t have asked for a better place to grow up; seriously, the Sierra Mountains were like one big giant playground for me. When I was in high school I played varsity soccer, softball (absolutely terrible), and ran track for one year (more terrible at this than softball). I also played the trumpet in 3 different bands. I got pretty good grades in school, considering I missed almost the entire winter traveling around to different mogul competitions. Although, I did have one math class where I got a zero on a test and my teacher, Mr. Jackson, said he had never actually given a student a zero so he hung it on the wall. My parents sure are proud!! I certainly wasn’t the popular girl but I had enough friends to always laugh, smile, and have a good time with. In my spare time I loved to go to the beach and go out on our friends’ boats. I also loved to mountain bike ride, roller blade, and just be outside.

When I was 17 I moved out to Salt Lake City to hopefully make the U.S. Ski Team. I arrived at school a little early (University of Utah). The three things on my to-do list were skiing, playing soccer, and pursuing my love of music. I tried out for the soccer team, and let me tell you, there is a big difference between North Tahoe High School soccer and Division 1 soccer, those girls were absolutely amazing and completely ran circles around me. I was completely out of my league but they didn’t have to be that snobby!!

If I had failed at my second endeavor, I was going to try out for the marching band at the U, but thankfully I made the Ski Team!

Since then I have been a member of the US “A” Team (Ranked top 10 in the world) for all of my 12 years. I have won 7 World Cup events, 2 World Championship medals, 25 World Cup podiums, 1 Olympic medal, 1 Overall World Cup Title, and a broken jaw and two blown out knees to prove it!

But making this Olympic Team in Vancouver is the icing on the tippy top of my confetti/ ice cream cake. I will retire after this season and start the next phase of my life. My fiancé and I own a business, Silver Bean Coffee Co., and I also really want to start a family: dirty diapers here I come.

So now, on to the fun stuff, welcome to the world of an Olympian!!!

Click here to read the next entry.