BORMIO, Italy, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Mexican alpine skier Lasse Gaxiola will have his mother for company on his Olympic debut, but she will not cheer him on from the finish line of Saturday’s giant slalom in Bormio as she travels three hours to prepare for her own race.
Teenager Gaxiola’s mother is 46-year-old Sarah Schleper, who will also ski under the Mexican flag in Cortina on Sunday, becoming the oldest female alpine skier to compete in the Olympics and the first to appear at seven Games.
In addition, Schleper and Gaxiola, 18, will become the first mother and son to compete in the same Winter Games.
“It’s hard because we’re in two different locations,” said the Colorado native Schleper. “It’s hard, but it’s also good because he gets to experience the Olympics as an individual instead of me telling him, ‘Oh, you have to trade pins, you have to do this.’ I always try to give him too much advice. You can never stop being a mother and just be a teammate, so I’m kind of excited that he’s not sitting next to me all the time.”
Schleper competed as an American in her first four Olympics and represented Mexico in the next three after marrying her Mexican husband Federico and retiring in 2015. Her best result was 10th place in the slalom in 2006.
“He (Lasse) is the same age as me at my first Olympic Games (in Nagano in 1998),” said Schleper, one of the Mexican flag bearers at the opening ceremony in Milan-Cortina. “I’m just so proud of him. He’s still a bit of a brat, but this experience will help him mature and understand how important this event is.”
NOT BEING WITH MOM, A MIXED BLESSING
Gaxiola trained on the slopes of Bormio on Tuesday alongside Jamaican competitor Henri Rivers IV and Kenyan Issa Laborde as they prepare to team up with the elite racers on the Stelvio.
He says not having his mother there was a mixed blessing.
“In some ways I’m glad we broke up because having her around puts a little extra pressure on me,” he said. “Sometimes I wish she was here with me so we could experience everything together, but it does help calm me down a bit.”
Gaxiola says he owes his skiing talent to his mother.
“It feels great to give back to her because she really taught me everything I know about skiing,” he said. “She was there my entire ski trip.”
Schleper said she cried when she saw Lasse on a screen during the opening ceremony and that it took her back to when she experienced her first Games in Nagano.
“My first Olympics were a blur of emotion and ignorance. It’s as if this was all fate,” she said.
