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Shelley Osterloh ReportingZach Lund barely missed qualifying for the Olympic Games in 2002. But now, Lund is at the top of his game and one of the top-ranked skeleton sliders in the world. He says a promise to his dying mother has helped him become the man and the athlete he is today.
Zach Lund has been sliding for ten years, first in luge, then in skeleton. Like many athletes, he credits much of his success to his parents. His dad, Mac, is a Salt Lake County firefighter. But when he was a child, the Lund family lived at Alta, Utah, where Dad was deputy marshal.
Zach learned to ski like the wind. But when he was just 13, he tried the luge. He had so much natural ability, coaches invited him to a training camp at Lake Placid. But he did not go. That same week, his mother, Mary Ann, was diagnosed with skin cancer.
Zach Lund, US Skeleton Team: "Her nickname was Penny because she had long, beautiful copper hair." "I loved it. And when she got cancer and lost her hair, it was really, really hard on me because not only was my mom dying, but she just lost my favorite physical attribute of hers in her hair. So she knew it meant a lot to me. So, before she passed away, her and her best friend had this made. It has a locket of her hair in there."
Lund says he wears that cross always as a reminder of his mother, and of a promise he made.
Zach Lund, US Skeleton: "Before she passed away, she made me promise that I would always follow my dreams. And you asked me about my good quotes, my biggest quote, and one that I tell any kid that I talk to is, just always follow your dreams."
His dream has led him to Torino. And though his mother is gone, her memory and her inspirational wish for Zach lives on.
Zach Lund, US Skeleton: "I'm going to live my life dream and it's going to be amazing."
Zach Lund says that cross with the locket of his mother's hair is his most prized possession in the world. And he'll be wearing it when he steps to the top of the track.
