Jake Vedder is back home adjusting to life as a normal resident in his small hometown of Pinckney after being part of the biggest sporting event on the planet.
Vedder chose not to stick around in Italy to march in the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games following his competition in snowboard cross on Feb. 12 because he needs time to decompress before returning to Europe to continue his World Cup season.
“I haven’t been home for seven weeks,” Vedder told the Livingston Daily on Wednesday, Feb. 18, one day after returning home. “Our logistics for closing was tough. It was going to be a 23-hour day from the time we left the village, did closing and got dropped off at the airport at 1 or 2 in the morning. My flight wasn’t until 11.
“I made the decision if I’m leaving March 2 to go to Turkey for the next World Cup, instead of six days at home this will give me 10 or 12 days at home to kind of relax and enjoy my own bed a little bit.”
Vedder had been to the United States only briefly during the past seven weeks, traveling to Florida right before the Olympics after his grandfather became ill. His grandfather died Feb. 4.
“I’m happy I got to see him down in Florida,” Vedder said. “I went through all that before the Olympics. I’m happy to have a good support team around me.”
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Unlike his first Olympic experience four years ago in China when COVID restrictions limited spectators, Vedder was able to share his second Olympics with his family. His mother had seen him race in Europe only once, at the 2016 Youth Olympics in Norway. His father had been to Europe for a couple World Cup events over the years. His family was in Utah in 2019 to watch him race in the world championships.
“I got to watch a couple events and show my family around town,” Vedder said. “Just seeing it from my eyes was fun for them and fun for me.
“The whole time they were there, I was happy to see them. Pretty much one of the highlights of my experience was getting to show them that experience. It’s my second Olympics, but I’ve been to four world championships. I’ve gone to a lot of big events. For me, it was kind of normal. Just being able to show them the ropes and all the different families wearing different gear and hanging out afterwards in bars, it was just a cool scene.”
Vedder had an opportunity to meet Snoop Dogg during the Team United States Welcome Experience before the start of the Olympics. The rapper was named the first honorary coach for Team USA and has appeared at events supporting American athletes.
“He’s somehow the face of the Olympics, which is funny,” Vedder said. “It’s crazy. It’s really cool. It’s super special. Team USA goes all out for the Olympics. It blows me away to see everything they do for the athletes. The uniforming is pretty cool, Snoop Dogg, all the media and press. They really do it well to make us feel special, because you only get these moments every four years.”
Vedder said he’s watched more of the Olympics in the short time he’s been home than he did during his week-and-a-half in Italy. He made it to as many snowboard and freestyle skiing events he could while he was at the Games.
“I’ve been watching all the events now to root on all my other teammates in different sports,” he said. “Just watching it, it’s still crazy to think I was on that exact same stage. It’s pretty cool.”
Vedder advanced through the first round of snowboard cross before being eliminated in the quarterfinals. He took third in a four-man heat that included eventual gold medalist Alessandro Haemmerle of Austria and silver medalist Eliot Grondin of Canada. The top two advanced to the semifinals.
Vedder finished 11th in the competition. He was sixth four years ago.
“Obviously, I didn’t perform to where I wanted to perform, but at the end of the day I’m still blessed to be one of the top two Americans in my event and pushing for what’s to come.
“I beat those guys, but you’ve got top beat them on the right day. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it done that day. It kind of hit me at the end to know I’m in it coming from such a small town and such a small upbringing on the mountain scene. I’m truly blessed and proud.”
The biggest disappointment for Vedder wasn’t his finish, but that he didn’t get an opportunity to continue his Olympics in the mixed snowboard cross event. Spots in that event are typically given to the top two American men and women in the open event, which was the case two years ago when Vedder competed in the first mixed snowboard cross event in Olympic history.
Top American Nick Baumgartner, who reached the semifinals, had one of the men’s spots in the mixed event. Vedder was bypassed in favor of Nathan Pare, who had a controversial disqualification after winning his quarterfinal heat.
“I totally expected to be in it,” Vedder said. “It’s probably the first time I’ve seen in my career that the second American didn’t get pulled for that event. My teammate (Pare) did really well and would’ve advanced to the top eight if he wasn’t disqualified in his individual heat.
“I’m still disappointed in my coaching staff for the way it was handled and processed. Normally we have a conversation before the individual event to say, ‘Hey, this is how we’re going to pick the team. If you’re not in the top eight, we’re going off world ranking points or something like that.’ We never had that conversation. I was kind of blindsided.”
Before the Olympics, Vedder said he wasn’t sure how much longer he would compete. He will finish this World Cup season and will likely continue next year with the hope of being on the world championship team in Austria.
“I got some really good energy sucked out of me by the coaches and the decision they made in that team event, some political stuff I’m over dealing with,” Vedder said. “I think there’s a strong chance I keep going. I’ve just got to still weigh that decision.
“I’ve had really good sponsor support these last four or five years. If I could continue those relationships and those endorsements, it would make it a pretty easy decision. Obviously, these companies want to get through the Olympics and they reevaluate everything. If it makes sense on that side, it for sure helps in that decision.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Pinckney’s Jake Vedder back from Olympics, mulls snowboard future
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
