- [Narrator] Chris journey to the Olympics has been filled with tragedies and triumphs, but he's using his experience to change the sport and people's lives. - You look back at the early years in the Olympics.
the perception of curlers in general was not very athletic, not whatever. And I know we've put in a ton of work to change that perception, and I think the results have showed. - [Narrator] He was recruited to his local team and fell in love with the sport. - I was actually going to a college hockey game, and the curling club that I'm a member at and train at is connected to our arena there, where the hockey team plays, and yeah, knew some
people that were down there, and they waved us in to try it, and parents, my whole family just kinda got thrown into it all at once, and yeah, just kind of fell in love with it. Had a lot of success at a really young age, and I actually was asked to join that Olympic team. - [Narrator] After the 2010 games, Chris dealt with a heartbreaking loss. - I lost my dad.- [Narrator] Chris Plys' journey to the Olympics has been filled with tragedies and triumphs, but he's using his experience to change the sport and people's lives. - You look back at the early years in the Olympics. and the perception of curlers in general was not very athletic, not whatever.
And I know we've put in a ton of work to change that perception, and I think the results have showed. - [Narrator] He was recruited to his local team and fell in love with the sport. - I was actually going to a college hockey game, and the curling club that I'm a member at and train at is connected to our arena there, where the hockey team plays, and yeah, knew some people that were down there, and they waved us in to try it, I was kind of like the first major thing that I had gone through after the Olympics and was forced to grow up fast. He had brain cancer, and so he had kind of dealt with it over the course of my whole life, honestly. I think, I don't know what the total, he had three or four brain surgeries, but then during the last one, he had had a stroke. And so, that was kind of the reason why I dropped out of school to take over the business at that time, just because he had lost his ability to speak and walk. - [Narrator] Chris and his family found a wonderful way to honor his father. - My family and a group of ladies that work with my mom started a charity back in 2012 called, Project Joy that was started in memory of my dad, and essentially, it started as a backpack food program for kids. So over the weekend when they didn't have access to school lunches, and definitely my dad was somebody that really cared about this community, and if I can use my platform to give people a bit of more opportunity than they would normally have, then I think that's just as important to me as any medal or anything like that. -
[Narrator] After near misses for repeat returns in 2014 and 2018, Chris is heading back to the games. He's on both the US Men's Curling Team and the Mixed Doubles Curling Team. - It took a long time to get here, but having both in the same year, yeah, it just makes all the finals and all the heartbreak and stuff over the course of my career, feel very worth it. And honestly, looking back on it now where we are, no matter what happens in Beijing, I think the wait will be worth it. What's next for figure skating after Russian Kamila Valieva's positive drug test scandal |
You must be logged in to post a comment.