Medal Man

The Canadians were poised to steal the gold, silver and bronze medals in the U.S. downhill, and Chris Puckett '94 saw it as his patriotic duty to stop it. Puckett prevented a Canadian sweep of the men's downhill by winning the opening event of the U.S.Alpine Ski Championships injackson, Wyoming, in late March. "I just knew I had to do everything I could to stay ahead of them," Puckettsaid. "I thinkitwas as good as I could ski today." A few days later Puckett placed fourth in the men's giant slalom, be hind first place finisher and little brother Casey.

He set about dethroning another foreign sports juggernaut in February, swiping two consecutive silver medals from the Austrians at the Goodwill Games in Lake Placid, New York. The win put the senior member of the American men's downhill team on the podium above the Austrians, including Fritz Strobl, recent winner of the most prestigious downhill on the World Cup circuit, the Hahnenkam at Innsbruck, Austria. As for his next encounter with the topranked Austrians, Puckett looks forward to the 2002 Olympics at Salt Lake City: " Once you beat them, they're much friendlier."

Chris Puckett took advantage of lake Placid's reputation as a haven for wintr sports haven for winnter sports and underdogs.