SOUTH BRISTOL, N.Y. — After his gold medal win, all eyes were on Chris Lillis at the Bristol Mountain Olympic watch party.
It was quite the gathering at Bristol Mountain Thursday night as friends and family came together to celebrate Chris Lillis and Dylan Walczyk, two Olympic skiers who got their start on the Bristol slopes.
“The enthusiasm for skiing here is absolutely infectious," said coach John Kroetz. "And they all work hard and they all love their sport. You know, when you love to do something, it doesn’t seem like work.”
Chris won a gold medal in the mixed team aerials event with a quintuple jump.
“He had it dialed in, I’m like that is money," said Chris' mom Jamie Lillis. His winning the second jump, I was like, 'he got it. He nailed it.'”
His brother Jon competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics but missed the cutoff for a medal.
And the motivation for Team Lillis? Jumping for Mikey, their youngest brother who passed away before those games.
“I believe Chris feels this way too, that it was a medal for him, but it’s a medal for all of us," said Jamie Lillis. "We’re all in this together, we’ve always been in it together and we’ll continue to stay in it together.”
For teens training at Bristol Mountain, the victory is an inspiration.
“It’s very cool," said skier Lucas Delforte. "Very cool for the little kids to look up and see someone doing so well from where they came from.”
And for Chris’ old coach John Kroetz, who helped Chris get his start, it’s the highest honor.
“Every coach at the developmental level dreams their athlete will be playing in the Super Bowl someday or in a World Series," said Kroetz. "For skiing, it’s all about the Olympics. That’s the pinnacle of our sport, there’s nothing higher.”
Kroetz still coaches at Bristol Mountain and wants his athletes to know anything is possible.
“You can grow up at Bristol which a relatively small ski area compared to the big monster areas," Kroetz said "And you can be super successful, as long as you work hard and try hard and do your best, you never know.”
It's a message sent all the way from Beijing.
“Sometimes, something that big doesn’t seem possible," Delforte said. "But when you’re around it and you know it is, it makes it a lot better to train and work towards something like that.”