Livigno, Italy—perhaps the most precious pin exist Milan Cortina Games Celebrating an athlete who helped lead an entire sport to the Olympics but never competed himself.
Canada is late and great Freeskier Sarah Burke Is the pioneer of women’s halfpipe. She encouraged girls and young women to participate in a sport that decades ago was almost exclusively male. Her lobbying was later key to having the event included in the Olympic program.
But she died in a training accident in 2012 at the age of 29. Two years ago, skiers made their halfpipe debut at the Sochi Olympics.
To honor Burke, Canadian coach Trennon Paynter created 200 pins spelling out “Sarah” in red lettering – matching the look of the stickers Russian skiers put on their helmets.
“She brought women into the sport, period,” Paynter said Friday. “She got involved and became a huge promoter of bringing the sport to the Olympics when a lot of people didn’t know it was a pathway to the Olympics.”
To this day, Paynter said, some people still ski with “Sarah” stickers on their helmets. But with strict Olympic rules prohibiting such displays, Paynter came up with a different way to get the message out.
He was given the floor before the first halfpipe practice earlier this week and used the time to talk about Burke’s impact. He told the athletes about the pin. Word quickly spread throughout the snow park. He was out a few hours later.
“Everyone in the sport, not just this sport but action sports in general, still really pays homage to Sarah and her legacy,” said the coach, who plans to produce a new batch of product and sell it to benefit Burke. Charitable Foundation.
On Sunday – One day later than scheduled Because of the storm – Eileen Gu planned to fall into the halfpipe, trying to second consecutive gold medal in the event. Gu’s birthday: September 3, the same as Burke’s birthday.
Arguably the most memorable night in the sport’s Olympic history was its first night — in the mountains of Russia, when Burke’s parents and husband attended the women’s event and watched the skaters slide down the halfpipe in a heart shape for the last time that night.
Paynter himself spread some of Burke’s ashes over the halfpipe at Rosa Cotto Extreme Park.
That night, French skier Marie Martineau won the silver medal. She had retired and had a daughter, and one day Burke knocked on her door and told her she needed to come back because she wanted the best woman to make her Olympic debut.
That night, Martinold painted snowflakes on her nails to match the tattoos on Burke’s feet.
“I guess I haven’t said goodbye to Sarah and I still have to do that and now I feel like I’m able to do that because I did what she asked me to do,” Martinold said that night.
Twelve years later, the number of skiers who knew Burke had dwindled to a handful. Yet, almost everyone knows her legacy.
During Friday’s qualifying round, American Nick Goepper wore the pin and even pointed to it while waiting in the waiting area to score.
“She had a commanding personality and power that legitimized halfpipe skiing for both men and women,” Goepper said. “She was a great inspiration to a lot of young girls.”
Winter Olympics: /hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter olympics
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