Athlete overcomes great loss, 'adopted' by fellow Olympian

SOCHI, Russia — Many Utah athletes competing in Sochi brought friends and family with them to share the Olympic experience. One Team USA skeleton racer was there on her own until another Utah athlete “adopted” her.

One by one, Team USA skeleton racers answered a reporter’s question about how many family members they brought to Sochi. But Katie Uhlaender’s answer made some people sad.

“I don’t have anyone coming,” she said.

Her father, Ted Uhlaender, died in 2009 and Katie hasn't been the same since. She and her dad were best friends.

“It’s really hard to describe,” she said. “I try to not think about it because if I think about it, or get too emotionally pumped up, it kind of ruins it.”

When Ted Uhlaender, who was a Major League Baseball player, died, Katie was devastated. It affected her 2010 Vancouver Olympics, she said.

During training in Park City, Katie said she wore her father’s World Series ring around her neck and kept his baseball card in her sled. But now, more than four years later, Katie said she has finally found peace.

“Oh, 100 percent,” she said. “I felt like the ring, his ashes, were something I couldn’t let go of in 2010. This time around, I’m able to actually take the necklace off. I feel his presence with me at all times, like I don’t need an object to do that for me anymore.”

Eagle Mountain's Noelle Pikus-Pace, also a skeleton racer, said Katie Uhlaender does have people with her in Sochi.

“I’m here for Katie,” she said. “I’m her adopted child. We’ve adopted her. She’s in our family.”

The two have become good friends, but later this week they will be competitors again. The women's skeleton competition starts Thursday.

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