Dylan Walczyk’s early years at Bristol helped lead him to Olympics

(WHEC) — The 2022 Olympic Winter Games are underway and there are a few Rochester natives who will compete. That includes mogul skier Dylan Walczyk.

It’s the culmination of a journey that began back in 2002. Walczyk was 8 years old. In virtually no time, he was finishing ahead of older kids.

In 2013, Walczyk took home bronze in his first World Cup. He’s also the only athlete to win the FIS NorAm tour three times.

When he was 14, his family sold their house and moved to Colorado so he could continue to improve his game in the hopes of qualifying for the games.

Now he has Bristol Mountain Ski Coach John Kroetz. Kroetz said he knew Walczyk had the making of an Olympian at a young age.

"If you’re podiuming at a World Cup, then you’re obvious Olympic caliber material,” Krutz said. “He tried hard to go to Sochi in 2014 but just missed out on that. But he was so young, we weren’t too terribly concerned. When he was skiing with us still, when you’re 11 years old and you’re coming in ahead of 15 and 16-year-olds, there’s something really super special there."

Walczyk is set to compete in the qualifying rounds on Thursday, Feb. 3. You can watch on News10NBC at 8 p.m.