King of the comeback, Aspen’s Chris Klug is heading back to the Olympics.
Eight years after bringing his inspirational story to Salt Lake City, the 37-year-old snowboarder will return to the Games in Vancouver as the final U.S. Olympic snowboarding team was announced Monday.
Klug won a bronze medal in 2002 in parallel giant slalom, only 19 months after a successful liver transplant, but saw his chance for a return trip in 2006 quashed after losing an appeal over technicalities in the Olympic qualifying system.
He encountered more trouble last year when he didn’t make the U.S. snowboarding “A” team and was denied funding in the lead up to the 2010 Games. But he started his own team — America’s Snowboard Team — and carved a new route to the Olympics.
“I’m really proud to have overcome some of the challenges,” Klug said Monday after finding out he had officially made the team.
“We set out to create our own team. It worked. I made it.
We put together one of the best training environments ever, and I’m proud of that.”
Klug sealed his spot with an eighth-place finish in a World Cup event over the weekend.
Other athletes to join the team Monday included Greg Bretz and Elena Hight for the halfpipe competition.
Also on the American squad are 2006 snowboardcross silver medalist Lindsey Jacobellis and gold medalist Seth Wescott.
Six halfpipe riders — Gretchen Bleiler, Heather Clark, Scotty Lago, Hannah Teter, Louie Vito and Shaun White — were selected for the team Saturday. White and Teter are defending Olympic champions.
The rest of the team: Graham Watanabe, Nick Baumgartner, Nate Holland, Callan Chythlook-Sifsof and Faye Gulini in snowboardcross, and Tyler Jewell and Michelle Gorgone in PGS.
