Amid the hectic blur of skiing, working out, taking classes, packing, and passing COVID test after COVID test, Katie Vesterstein spent her final week before flying to Beijing tackling one other important preparation: Learning the words to the Estonian national anthem.
"I've been listening to it the last couple of days," said the Duluth native, one of the best collegiate skiers in the United States. "I should know it — just in case, right?"
Yes, if Vesterstein is standing atop an Olympic podium later this week, having captured an unexpected gold in the slalom or giant slalom, she wouldn't want singing "Mu isamaa mu õnn ja rõõm" to be her most difficult challenge of the Beijing Games. Especially since she knows her grandfather will be watching.
"He's probably as excited as me," Vesterstein said of Paul Vesterstein, 93, who has organized a watch party at his home in Singer Island, Fla., for Katie's races, with about a dozen or so Estonian expats. "He's a big part of why I'm going."
In more ways than one.
Vesterstein will ski for Estonia, which is located on the Baltic Sea just south of Finland, in Beijing. She's the lone woman Alpine skier — there's also one men's Alpine skier, Tormis Laine, whom Vesterstein met at a collegiate meet in Colorado a couple of months ago — on a team that has never won a medal in any winter event except cross-country skiing.
Vesterstein gained dual nationality four years ago due to her grandfather, who left a displaced persons camp in his homeland of Estonia, then a part of the Soviet Union, for America in 1949. When she began winning junior Alpine races, including a top-20 finish at the U.S. championships in 2016, Estonia's Olympic federation took notice. When she became a collegiate All-America for the NCAA champion University of Utah ski team last spring, the Estonians invited her to join the Olympic team.
"They've been super helpful. They've been really on top of things for me, which has been nice," Vesterstein said from Salt Lake City, shortly before leaving for China. "They want me to maybe do some World Cups, probably next year. It's great to have that support."
And that of her family, too. Her grandfather was a ski racer at Minnesota Duluth in the 1950s, and a ski instructor afterward. He eventually opened Continental Bike & Ski in his adopted hometown, a business that, though he sold it several years ago, is still operating in downtown Duluth.
His son Kirk, Katie's father, was also a ski instructor, and helped her learn the sport. By the time she was 10, she was so good, they moved to Minneapolis so she could train with well-known coach Erich Sailer at Buck Hill.
"She's a beautiful skier. I still coach her, I guess you'd say, on the phone," Sailer said. "I talked to her two or three days ago, told her if she can turn two inches sooner and get her weight into the turns, she can get another second faster."
Maybe, but she's plenty fast already. She walked on to the Utah ski team in 2019, and by her junior year, she earned All-America honors by leading the Utes to their second consecutive NCAA championship.
"Of anyone I have, she's the one I always have to cut off from training because she wants to keep going and going," said Utah ski coach JJ Johnson, himself a former World Cup skier. "It's been fun to watch her grow. She was very quiet the first year or two, pretty reserved, and her personality has just taken off the last couple of years. She's a favorite on the team, everyone gravitates toward her. And she's an A student."
A finance major, actually, who is considering pursuing a master's degree next year in order to ski one more season with her Utah teammates.
But first, she'd like to make her adopted "homeland" proud. Vesterstein doesn't know what to expect in Beijing — "I try not to put any extra pressure on myself," she explains — but her coach is sure she will be competitive.
"There's an aura about 'World Cup skiers,' but most collegiate teams have them, so she's skied that level," Johnson said, pointing out that 11 current or recent Utah skiers will be in Beijing. "It's a matter of putting that aside and skiing the way she's been lately. She may be untested on that level, as far as racing against them, but she has that ability, absolutely."
No matter what, she will have fans in Estonia — and Florida.
"I'm very proud. So very proud. But I am not surprised," said Paul Vesterstein, pointing out that his granddaughter is also an accomplished horse jumper and motocross racer. "She is very determined when she decides what she's going to do. Nothing she accomplishes surprises me."
Katie Vesterstein will compete in the giant slalom, beginning at 8:15 p.m. on Sunday (USA Network), and the slalom, beginning at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday (Ch. 11). For daily TV listings for the Beijing Olympics, go here.
