normal World Cup attire because I go straight from here to Norway
and then we have our normal clothes. I have a bunch of goggles. We
had to make a bunch of new stuff to fit the Olympic logo size so the
Shred is a little smaller, which isn’t ideal, but it’s still bright colors, so
that’s cool and exciting for these Games.”
As for a good luck charm, Ligety says he goes without; he scoffed at
the idea of carrying his 2006 Olympic gold around with him.
“My mom takes care of the gold from 2006,” Ligety said. “She doesn’t
really trust me with it.”
Swiss racer Ambrosi Hoffmann said he doesn’t carry a good luck
charm either, but he travels with a different sort of token for extra
strength at the Games.
“I have a picture of my family,” he said. “That’s good luck for me. But
nothing different. I say, ‘OK, here is only skiing like in the World Cup.’
I say I have to do the same and then it goes OK.”
An iPod is another item — lightweight and small — that just about
every racer brings along. Some get funny with their playlists.
DOUG HANE Y (2)
“Some days I’m really into listening to country music before I ski,
other days it’s rap,” McKennis said. “My country playlist is called
F350. My rap playlist is gangsta rap.”
Kaylin Richardson also tries to keep the temptation to be superstitious, and the trinkets that might come with it, out of her Olympic
experience.
“My only superstition is not to be superstitious,” she said. “If I notice
that I wear a pair of socks that have done well in a couple races, I
make a point to not wear those socks in the next race. I’m like, ‘That
had nothing to do with it!’”
Still, Richardson does drag her favorite pillow around with her,
along with some cherished reading material.
“I have my Kindle; that’s something I always bring with me now,”
she said. “I love it. You can have like 15, 20 books and keep the weight
down. I have my hard drive with movies and stuff on it, but books,
they’re my saving grace.”
