Jason Gewirtz has been on the ground in Italy throughout the Winter Olympics, talking with CEOs of various U.S. national governing bodies. Check out each interview here:
Matt Farrell, U.S. Figure Skating
Aron McGuire, USA Bobsled/Skeleton
CORTINA — Skiing and snowboard are, of course, embedded into the Olympic Winter Games. But disciplines have grown over the years, adding new complexities. At the Games in Milan Cortina, that includes some new disciplines, including a women’s combined downhill and slalom that made its debut.
Sophie Goldschmidt has been leading U.S. Ski & Snowboard since 2021, and the sport remains popular not just among participants but among donors as well. Many of those donors chose to come to Italy for the Games, and have been forced to confront some tricky logistics as the mountain events are spread out over three areas, each several hours apart from one other.
Goldschmidt has been doing some serious traveling herself just to keep up at these Games. SportsTravel caught up with her in Cortina and discussed the travel planning, Lindsey Vonn’s injury and a look ahead to when the 2034 Games come to Utah, at which she is a board member for the organizing committee.
SportsTravel: There’s been a lot written about just how spread out these Games are. What is your travel schedule like to see your team compete in so many different venues this week?
Goldschmidt: It’s very spread out. I started in Milan, I’ve been to Val di Fiemme, here in Cortina, and I’m going to Livigno, later on. So we’re logging a lot of miles. But look, the venues have been really well prepared. The conditions here are great. And logistically, you kind of get in your groove. The first couple of days were somewhat challenging, and we’ve got a big group here with us. So there’s been a lot of logistics to coordinate for basically two or three years. But the spirit of the Italian crowd is awesome, and the weather’s really cooperated. So it’s been fun so far.
SportsTravel: How big is that group? How many people do you have?
Goldschmidt: We’ve got about 50. And we have two waves. So wave one, they leave Saturday (February 14), and then we have another group coming in for the second week, and it’s a mixture of mainly donors and philanthropic supporters, and then also some commercial partners as well.
SportsTravel: Even the downhill venues are unusual this year. You’ve got two different locations for the men and women for the first time at an Olympic Games…
Goldschmidt: Yeah, getting between the men and the women is challenging. You kind of have to split out the week. I’m going hopefully to get over to Livigno on Wednesday or Thursday. I’m looking forward to that.
SportsTravel: It doesn’t hurt that your team is off to a strong start, including Breezy Johnson winning the downhill.
Goldschmidt: Breezy’s result was amazing. And we’re still just sort of getting going. We’re just taking, literally, each event at a time, sort of the highs and lows of the Olympics, just staying calm and positive and doing everything we can to support the athletes.
SportsTravel: I have to ask you about Lindsey Vonn. From your perspective overseeing the national governing body, so much was made of her from a marketing standpoint, from a storytelling standpoint. How disappointed were you to see how it ended for her, when she crashed during the women’s downhill on February 8?
Goldschmidt: It’s been so sad for her. I mean, she’s still made a bigger mark than anyone could have really imagined on our sport and our organization. The fact that she was even in the start gate, let alone given then what happened 10 days ago — I think she’s an inspiration for many. We’re just hoping she’ll get healthy as soon as possible, and you’ve probably seen she released more of the details. It’s going to be quite a long road back, but look, she’s proved she knows how to get healthy. I’m devastated for her, but still, there’s so much to be proud of.
SportsTravel: You mentioned your donors. Your governing body has done very well over the years in getting your fan base and your donors to help with your programs. How important is the activation here at the Olympic Games compared to any other event that you might be activating?
Goldschmidt: Here you can see so many sports. It’s nice for them to get that overview. We have our donors and other commercial partners involved in a lot of our events back in the U.S., which are awesome and going from strength to strength, but you only get to see one team or maybe a couple of disciplines. So here we can take in a lot more, and then they love it. They’ve been great sports with all the traveling, which is more than they would be used to with these kind of programs. But we can’t do it without our donors. As you know, we get no government funding. So we’re super excited to help them here. They’ve had a great time so far.
SportsTravel: Lastly, Utah 2034 has had a presence here this week Italy. With U.S. Ski & Snowboard based in Park City, you’ve got a home Olympic and Paralympic Games coming up here. Talk to me about the lead up and what you’re doing to prepare for that.
Goldschmidt: The next couple of weeks are pretty focused just on this event. But look, planning’s already underway for 2034. I mean, the fact we’re already concretely talking about the legacy that it’s going to leave is, I think, testament just to how well prepared that organizing committee is, and all the experience we had in 2002. We’ll see how this Games goes, but arguably, it has gone down as the best Winter Olympic Games ever. Lucky for us it’s in our backyard. We have this eight-year North Star to really further galvanize. We’ve seen some great momentum on and off the snow the last couple of years, and this, I think, can hopefully just take it to another level. So we’re super excited.
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