Reno resident Tim Jitloff to ski in second Winter Olympics
Like so many other younger siblings, skier Tim Jitloff just wanted to do what his older brothers were doing.
“My brothers would go off and do the actual gate training and stuff like that, and I always was like, ‘What’s that?’ and my parents were like, ‘Well, if you can keep up with everybody, you can do it, too,’ and so I went out and tried it out and never looked back,” Jitloff said.
It’s safe to say he kept up. And then some.
Jitloff, 33, will compete in the giant slalom in South Korea in his second Winter Olympics. The opening ceremonies are Friday.
Jitloff was born in San Jose, California, before moving across the state to Truckee, where he grew up.
At 18, his parents moved to Reno, which technically has been his hometown since, even though he spends most of his time living with his wife in Germany.
Everybody skied in his family, and Jitloff was attracted to it at a young age.
“It wasn’t necessarily about the racing aspect of it, it was more just the skiing and being out with your friends and the freedom of cruising around and going as fast as you want,” Jitloff said. “We call it free skiing where you’re just out there learning your skills and learning yourself as a kid with your friends and you’re hiking up the mountains and skiing down. That was the joy of it for me.”
He first started when he was 2 or 3. Around age 5, he participated in his first kids’ race.
“I don’t think I went around any of the gates,” he said. “I think I just went straight down the mountain.”
As he reached his teenage years, the idea of reaching the Winter Olympics started to creep into his mind.
In 1994, he watched Tommy Moe win his gold medal in downhill. Daron Rahlves, who competed in three Olympics, lived in Truckee, and Jitloff was inspired by the two.
Around 16, the idea of making the U.S. national team started coming into sharper focus as Jitloff increasingly had success.
The Olympics started to seem less and less far-fetched. He made the national team two years later.
By 2010, the Olympics were within reach. He was actually selected to the team, but wound up being the odd man and didn’t compete. The final two spots on the team were discretionary, and coaches went in another direction.
It was a letdown but motivation to make the next Olympics.
Jitloff competed in the 2014 Sochi Olympics, finishing 15th in the giant slalom, second among Americans. Teammate Ted Ligety won the gold medal.
This time, Jitloff’s wife, her sister and her parents will be there to cheer for him when the giant slalom takes place Feb. 18.
“I was really focused on doing my event and doing it really well (in 2014), but I didn’t necessarily enjoy the actual experience, and since this is my last games, one of the things that’s really nice is I don’t have a lot of pressure here,” Jitloff said. “I feel like I can really enjoy this experience a little more, and I think that will be a lot more enjoyable than last time where I was just thinking about the one thing.”
Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.
