
Fifty years after his mother first tasted Olympic glory, American skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle has added to his family’s extraordinary skiing legacy.
The Vermont native will be coming home from Beijing with a silver medal, one that he won in Tuesday’s super-G, finishing only .04 seconds behind gold medal winner Matthias Mayer of Austria.
Cochran-Siegle’s mother, Barbara Ann, won gold in the slalom at the 1972 Sapporo Games.
In 1961, Barbara’s parents, Mickey and Ginny Cochran, started a small ski area, and the “Skiing Cochrans” were born. Barbara’s brother, Bob, finished eighth in the downhill at those same Olympics in 1972, while sister Marilyn finished 20th in giant slalom. Lindy Cochran finished sixth in slalom at the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck. A generation later, Jimmy Cochran competed in the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy, and the 2010 Games in Vancouver.