“It isn’t about the Olympics … It’s about the journey.” -Fred Honebein, 1996 Olympic Rowing Team

With the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris underway, the Tread of Pioneers Museum is proud to honor the six Summer Olympic athletes with ties to Steamboat Springs.

For many reasons, the town is widely known as “Ski Town USA” with over 100 Olympians who currently live here or at one point called the famed athletic town their home. Most of these elite athletes are Winter Olympians competing in Alpine Skiing events, Snowboarding, Freestyle, Nordic Combined, and the like. 

At the Tread of Pioneers Museum’s Brown Bag Summer Storytelling event on July 12, local Olympians Fred Honebein and Anne Kakela, who both competed in rowing at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, shared their life journeys and Olympic experiences, both in and out of the water.

“It’s sort of funny being Olympians, especially Summer Olympians, because every four years you get dusted off, pulled out of the closet, and then sort of walked around a little bit,” said Honebein in his opening comments at the presentation. “Our philosophy wasn’t about the Olympics, it was about the journey and getting to the Olympics. You hear different stories from people about how they’re so myopic about getting to the Olympics… that’s one way of going about it.”

Kakela fondly described her childhood years and skiing and equestrian sports in Steamboat Springs, and her introduction to rowing at Dartmouth College. She vividly remembers theemotions and awe of walking in the 1996 Opening Ceremonies, and her dashed dreams of an Olympic medal with a fourth place finish at the Games. Her rowing career continued after her retirement from competing in the sport, coaching and helping develop young talent.

 Kakela’s drive and sport took her around the world and deepened her appreciation for her opportunities, travel and perspectives on life. Now, having raised her children here in Steamboat Springs, she hopes that her story can inspire others young people, who may have a passion for summer sports. Having started rowing in college, and eventually making the Olympic team, Kakela is proof that you don’t have to start all sports at a young age to excel.

Other summer Olympians with ties to Steamboat Springs include:

• Sven Wiik, (1948, Gymnastics demonstration team)

Before Wiik immigrated to the United States from Solleftea, Sweden in 1949, he was part of the gymnastics demonstration team for the 1948 Olympics in London, England. He later spent 19 years as Assistant Professor of Health and Physical Education and Head Ski Coach at Western State College in Gunnison, CO. Overseeing the many disciplines of the entire ski program there, he helped at least 12 members of his ski teams qualify for the U.S. in the Olympics and FIS championships.

A well-respected and accomplished coach, Wiik was selected to coach the U.S. ski team at the World Championships in Finland in 1958, the Olympic Games, (then known as Squaw Valley) in 1960, and more. For all of his contributions to skiing, Wiik was inducted into the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame in 1979 and the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1981. 

• Sean Colgan (1980 Olympics boycotted that year, Rowing) 

In 1980, Sean Colgan was named to the Olympic heavyweight eight rowing team, but the games were boycotted that year. He competed in what is known as the Olympic equivalent regatta, in which the American team finished second.

• Alayna Snell Kidd (1980 Olympics boycotted that year, track and field; 1984, fencing)

Originally from South Africa, Alayna Snell Kidd was named to not one but two summer Olympic teams. First, she qualified for the boycotted 1980 Olympics in track and field. Then, she competed in fencing at the 1984 Olympics for the Virgin Islands. She and her family now reside in the Yampa Valley.

• Rich Weiss (1992, 1996, Kayaking)

Weiss grew up in Steamboat Springs, learning to kayak on many of the fast-moving rivers in the area. Weiss was the overall champion at the first-ever Champion International Whitewater Series in 1990, a title he also claimed in 1993. He also made U.S. history in kayaking when he placed third overall in the World Cup standings in 1991, the highest finish ever for an American men’s kayaker at the time.

Weiss became the first American to win a medal in men’s kayak at a World Championship when he won silver on the Noce River in Mezzana, Italy, in 1993. He placed 16th at the 1992 Olympic Games and finished 6th at the 1996 Olympic Games. While kayaking with a friend on the White Salmon River in Washington in June of 1997, Weiss was tragically killed when he went over a 15-foot falls and failed to surface. 

• Blake Worsley (2012, Swimming (Canadian team))

Blake Worsley grew up in Steamboat Springs, swimming under his mom, Patti, the Steamboat Springs Swim Team coach. The Canadian-born athlete swam for the University of Denver in college, made the Canadian national team, then qualified for the 2012 Olympics in London. At the Summer Games, he finished 17th in the men’s 200-meter freestyle and helped the 4×200 freestyle relay take 14th.

Just like our Ski Town USA Winter Olympic athletes, these Summer Olympians pursued athletic excellence on the world stage, and contribute to our town’s unmatched Olympic heritage and the collective story.