DEER VALLEY ? The sky was a perfect blue, her smile a perfect smile, the moment a perfect moment.
This was American moguls skier Shannon Bahrke's perfect day.
She being an expert on all sorts of days.
On the first day of Olympic competition, she waited nervously for her start. Recalling practice runs, she noted the familiar course had seemed oddly out of sync with how it felt in December, when she won a Gold Cup race. This time she had had several good practice jumps, underscored by a handful of bad ones.
She stood at the start line, trying to calm her fears, and smiled.
"The only way I know how (to relax) is to smile," she said.
One heli-cross and one straight helicopter maneuver later, she finished with a smile, same as before ? times 10. She spun around and pumped her arms. The crowd, awaiting the moment, waved American flags and roared.
And when it all sank in, she cried. Her silver medal was the first for an American in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.
"I can't believe I'm on the podium, let alone being the first American to win a medal in these Games," she said. "And I think it's something special, after September 11th . . . "
Her voice caught, as a silvery trail of tears rimmed her eyes.
The former University of Utah student had met the president the night before. She also met her hero, Lance Armstrong.
Such a day to be alive.
If ever there were a person to appreciate Saturday's developments, it would be Bahrke. Two years ago, she began to weaken due to flulike symptoms. Her strength began failing at crucial times. What she didn't know was that it was much more malicious than the flu. She had contracted a staph infection that eventually found its way to her spine.
Weeks passed as her weight plummeted and she was placed on antibiotics. Doctors stopped telling her she would never ski again and began worrying about saving her life.
"She almost died. It was almost really over, ultimately. It was that close," said her father, Richard. "They hooked her up with a fanny pack thing, with an IV going straight to her heart."
Looking at the leaderboard, he added happily, "Maybe it did something (good) to her heart."
Going into Saturday's competition, it wasn't so much a matter of whether an American would medal but which one. The overwhelming favorite was eventual gold medal winner Kari Traa, of Norway, who has dominated the World Cup standings this year. After that, the prospects looked good for the Americans. It was on their own turf, with a roaring home crowd. Bahrke was ranked third in the world this year, but teammates Hannah Hardaway and Ann Battelle were ranked Nos. 2 and 4, respectively.
All three top Americans made it through the qualifying round. But after Bahrke's effort ? which put her in first place until Traa made the day's final run ? both Hardaway and Battelle skied more tentatively. Bahrke soon found herself leading with only two entries remaining. A medal was guaranteed. She threw her arms around Traa after her Norwegian opponent finished.
She entered the interview room with red, white and blue glitter on her face. Not, she said, for good luck, but because she likes to be "extravagant."
She remembered the butterflies. She remembered the crowd. She remembered her family, wearing patriotic hats her mother had made, that said, "Go Shannon."
She remembered the days when she was unsure if there would be others.
"From then on, I look at every day and look at it a different way," she said. "Our body is so precious, and what we do to it, we just don't (always) realize."
She remembered that this was a year in which she wanted to win for herself, true, but mostly for America.
"I am so proud to be an American," she said.
On this most perfect day.