Alums Experience Olympics Firsthand

Jim Pasek '99 and Jim Olson '76 got a chance to live out their Olympic dreams in Salt Lake City last winter.

Both men, graduates of the Physical Therapy program, wanted to do more than be mere spectators.

"Being a physical therapist had nothing to do with me being involved with the Olympics," said Pasek, who lives in Fairbanks, AK. "I saw an ad for volunteers while I was job hunting three years ago and responded. I wanted to get to the other side of the fence and get in the action."

He was chosen as a crew member on the men's downhill ski course.

"It was a lot of work," said Pasek. "I shoveled, put up fences, took down fences, and did anything else to make sure that my part of the course was ready to be skied. It was the hardest job I ever had, but the most fun."

A typical day started at 3 a.m. He skied to his post around 6 a.m. and got ready to begin work.

"We really hoped that it didn't snow because that made a lot more work," he said.

The atmosphere was something he'll never forget.

"Seeing the Olympics on TV is not the same as being there," Pasek said. "There were bells ringing and flags waving. Everyone was so friendly. It wasn't like being in New York or something. You would talk to whomever it was that was sitting next to you. Talking and hanging out with elite athletes was a blast."

Jim Pasek on his stretch of the slopes.

Jim Olson with the Paralympics mascot.

Jim Olson, a physical therapist and certified athletic trainer from Anoka, MN, was a member of the medical staff at this year's Paralympics, which were also held in Salt Lake City. The Paralympics are like the regular Olympics except each athlete has some type of disability.

He earned eligibility to work as a trainer at an Olympic event by working his way through four levels of certification.

"I started out by going to a training center for two weeks," he said. "I then worked through the second and third levels by working the Pan American Games in Indianapolis in 1987 and the World Games in Sicily in 1997. Having to go through so much to get to the Olympics made it much more meaningful to me."

His main responsibility was being the trainer of the United States ice sledge hockey team, in which the athletes play from aboard sleds.

"The most memorable thing for me was seeing the American team go from worst in Nagano in 1998 to first here. Working with a gold medal winning team is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"I also was on-call every fourth night," said Olson. "We had to provide 24-7 medical coverage to the athletes, so I would sleep in the training center when on duty. Staff had to be there to handle injuries or illnesses."

He feels that his St. Scholastica education helped him prepare for this experience as well as his professional career.

"They really taught us to be independent and think on our feet," he said. "That's what you have to do. You don't know what you're going to be faced with the next minute."

Pasek agreed.

"It's prepped me well," he said. "First you feel uneasy, like you need to know more. But I got all the basics, and I've added on from there."