MAINE, USA — For Olympic athletes, life after the sport can be pretty different. But those who have competed and earned the title of Olympian will always look back fondly on their time at the games.
This includes Bethel native Troy Murphy, who placed 17th in the mogul competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. The 29-year-old now works for an investment bank and lives in San Francisco.
"I definitely miss skiing more frequently. I used to ski every day, so that's been an adjustment," Murphy said.
But he's still watching from home, cheering on the men and women of Team USA and reflecting on his own Olympic experience.
"We were kind of unique in that we had our events really early, so we actually had our first competition runs ... our qualification runs ... held the same day as the opening ceremony," he said.
He added that he was lucky that he competed before the era of COVID-19.
"My parents got to go. It was actually their first time outside of North America, so that was cool. My then-girlfriend, now wife, got to go," he said.
Murphy did have a piece of advice for current Olympians.
"I would say enjoy it. Make sure you're taking it all in because it's an experience that maybe comes around once in a lifetime," Murphy said.
He added he's excited to watch both the men's and women's moguls and fellow Bethel native Frankie Del Duca, who he knows personally, in bobsled.
"We actually like grew up going to school together. I think we played soccer together one year in middle school or something, so it'll be really cool to have some skin in the game as far as a local Bethel native as well," he said.