An impromptu tryout helped this man reach the Olympic stage
A Massachusetts man is the talk of his hometown as he prepares to compete on the Olympic stage.
Zack DiGregorio, of Medway, is competing for Team USA in the men's luge doubles event with partner Sean Hollander, whom he teamed up with just 16 months ago, at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
In Medway, the letter "Z" decorates many doors and windows in support of DiGregorio, the first Olympian in the town's history.
DiGregorio's mother, Krista, said Zack showed that he was a bit of a daredevil when he was learning to ride a bicycle at an early age.
"He made us take his training wheels off when he was 2 years old," Krista DiGregorio said.
Zack DiGregorio, 20, was asked to join the U.S. Luge Development Team at age 10 after an impromptu tryout that he took part in with some friends.
"He got a free T-shirt. That's all he cared about," Krista DiGregorio said of the tryout. "And then a couple of months later, we got an email from the luge folks saying: 'He shows some promise. Could you bring him to Lake Placid in January?'"
Krista DiGregorio said since that trip to Lake Placid in January 2012, her son has been hooked on the sport of luge ever since.
She also said one of the hardest parts of the experience is that she is unable to travel to Beijing to watch Zack compete in his first Olympics.
"We've known for months that the potential was there, that we wouldn't be able to go," Krista DiGregorio said. "They've been in a COVID bubble the entire season. He left in October and we haven't seen him since."
Zack DiGregorio and Sean Hollander began training runs on Sunday and those will continue through Tuesday. The Olympic men's luge doubles competition begins in earnest on Wednesday.