A local Derby woman is in participating in the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. WBFO's senior reporter Eileen Buckley says 20-year-old Tricia Mangan was late add the U.S. Alpine Ski team on Tuesday.
“It was crazy, but now that we are sitting down on the plane – it’s awesome – now we are going to take it all in,” declared Martha Mangan, the skier’s mother.
Mangan's mother, Martha spoke with us as she and her family boarded a plane out of the Buffalo Niagara International Airport Friday morning.
The family is headed to South Korea to see Mangan serve as an Olympian and compete.
“And I’m here with Tricia’s twin and David, my husband, and Mary, Andrew and Peter, and then our other son Connor will be flying in from New York City and meeting us in Seoul in about 14-hours,” said Mrs. Mangan.
Her twin brother William tells WBFO News his sister was the last person to be named to U.S. team earlier this week as she will be replacing an injured skier.
“She’s so excited. She’s still trying to pinch herself because it’s such a wild experience. She was the last person named to the U.S. roster – she got the call after being told she wasn’t on the team and unfortunate circumstances for her teammate – but every step of the way – she has kind of been the underdog – but her work ethic is, in my opinion, the real reason she is at the Olympics’ now,” responded Mangan.
“What will it be like when you actually see her?” Buckley asked the brother.
“Oh, it will be awesome,” he responded. “You know I’ve seen a couple of her races on the World Cup circuit.” “She’s in the world spotlight. She knows that it’s an experience – she’s just trying to gain experience – of course the dream would be podium. Her best result right now is 19th in the World Cup. If she’ gets the podium – that’s a dream come true, but if not, she’s absolutely going to just be psych that she’s there – she’s going to take it all in – that’s what she’s been telling me – trying not to miss any moments, of course, this only happens once every four years and you never know if it will happen again – so she’s just trying to take it all in.”
Mangan is a graduate of Nardin Academy in Buffalo and currently attends Dartmouth College where she studies mechanical engineering in between her very extensive training for skiing.
A footnote to this story, Tricia Mangan's younger brother, Andrew, was featured in a WBFO story January 15th about a remarkable recovery from a spinal cord injury.
