By Heather Bosch
KIRO Radio

I had a colleague ask, "How did you find him? How did you find the father of that USA woman's luger?"

Truth be told, when you know what you're looking for, it's not hard to spot the parents of Olympians. They're the mom or dad lugging the equipment (skates, hockey sticks, boots, skis, etc.), to a venue at some unearthly hour. They're the people wearing the badge, the T-shirt or even face-paint that says "proud mom" or "Olympic Dad," or GO (insert name of favorite Olympian, here... no matter what the odds of them winning might be).

But most of all, it's that look in their eyes. It's pride: like the first time your preschool-aged child comes home with a home-made card, scrawled over with crayon, that says "I wuv mom an dad."

Yeah, that kind of pride and love, plus the look tells you they're thinking, "My child is going to hurl him/herself down a hill going at inhuman speeds and I'm going to smile and show support no matter how much it kills me to just stand on the sidelines and watch."

Sometimes that dedication leads to a medal. I spoke with a young Swiss man, Simon Ammann, who won a gold for ski jump. He was flanked by an older man and woman who were beaming so full of pride I thought they might bust. They weren't looking at Simon's medal, they were looking at his smile.

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