PARK CITY ? For the past two years, mogul skier Evan Dybvig has epitomized the sports adage, "play with pain."
The 26-year-old native of Vermont has degenerated ACLs in his knees, and every run is agony. Tuesday during the Olympic men's mogul competition at Deer Valley, Dybvig epitomized "the agony of defeat" when he fell on the landing of his second jump and then struggled to his feet, limped to the end of the course and then collapsed.
While coaches and medical personnel rushed to his aid, the crowd chanted his name. When he finally got to his feet, with the assistance of two people, the 14,327 fans stood to applaud and cheer one of the United States' most determined athletes.
"It's just been heart-wrenching for our whole staff," said U.S. Freestyle coach Jeff Wintersteen, struggling to hold back his own tears. "He's just done an awesome job dealing with (pain)."
Wintersteen and teammates say Dybvig doesn't do anything on or off the course without pain. He'd been dealing fairly effectively with the problem when he partially tore his right ACL in November. At a news conference a few days before the Winter Games began, he said he was very upset when he injured himself a few months ago.
Then he realized he'd been skiing with an injury for two years. He decided to consult the same doctors who had helped him build up the muscles around his knee and avoid surgery.
"Had he gotten eight more turns in, he would have made the finals," Wintersteen said. "That was probably the hardest part."
Women's silver medalist in moguls, Shannon Bahrke, was equally saddened by her teammate's fate.
"Poor Evan," she said. "He's been working so hard. . . . I can't even comprehend the kind of pain he goes through. But he always brings a smile to everyone; he's so funny. Every one of us is just really proud of him."
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