Even through a zoom video chat, you can feel the excitement rolling off Kevin Bolger.
“Every day it sinks in a little more, but it’s hard to really realize, it’s true. It’s real,” said Bolger.
After years of training, competitions, and perseverance, Bolger was nominated for the US Cross Country Ski Team to compete in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
It’s a dream Bolger has been working toward nearly his entire life.
“I was in high school or around that age. I just remember being at a race and looking around at all my friends at the time and competitors and being like, ‘I wonder who’s going to stick this out. Who’s going to keep doing this? Who is going to be at the Olympics one day?’ and I was like, ‘I know it’s going to be me. I know I’m going to stick this out.’ Now to be able to look back at that vague memory I have, it’s like, ‘wow. That’s really cool,’” said Bolger.
Bolger grew up in Minocqua and competed for the Lakeland Ski Team, falling in love with the sport at a young age.
“The feeling of just gliding across snow, I can’t even explain it. But it’s just so awesome. It’s so easy and feels super good,” he said.
The US Ski Team announced his nomination last week. He says the outpouring of support from people all across the state since then has been amazing.
“I think that’s what makes it feel the most real. The support that I’m feeling from not only Minocqua and the community I grew up in, but the surrounding areas and almost the whole state. It’s unbelievable,” he said.
Bolger said it’s also rewarding to thank all the people that helped and supported him over the years to make this dream a reality, whether that was through coaching or fundraisers or simply cheering him on.
But the biggest reward came the moment he got to tell his parents the news.
“It was more rewarding to tell them that I was going than it was for me to hear that I was going. I wouldn’t be here without my parents and their support and my family’s,” said Bolger.
Bolger is currently in Italy where he’s been training this winter.
He flies to Beijing on the first.
Bolger will be competing in the skate sprint on February 8th.
