Bellefontaine native set for his second Olympics, this time with Team Italy
Louie Vito is joining a class of Olympians that is very rare: athletes that have represented more than one country in the Olympics.
Vito, a Bellefontaine native, finished fifth in the halfpipe at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
Twelve years later, he is set to make his second Olympic appearance tonight in the halfpipe competition in Beijing, China.
But instead of representing the Red, White and Blue of the United States, Vito will be wearing the Red, White and Green of Italy.
In an effort to honor his Italian ancestry, Vito went through the long and grueling process of obtaining Italian citizenship in order to become eligible to compete for Team Italy in this year’s Games.
The work wasn’t done after receiving citizenship, though. He had to earn his spot on the snow, and was successful. He is one of just two Italian halfpipe riders to qualify for Beijing.
“This is something I have wanted to do for myself and my family,” Vito said in a recent phone interview. “There may be some people that don’t understand it, and that’s fine. Everyone can have their opinion, but they don’t see it from my perspective. It goes a lot deeper than snowboarding. My Italian grandparents are extremely important to me, and this is a way to honor them and my entire family. To be able to represent the country I grew up in, and also the country of my Italian family, is a dream come true.”
Now 33, Vito is in a different stage of his snowboarding career than he was in 2010. While he is not ready to say this will be his final competition, he did admit that the end is drawing near.
“I have thought about that, and I’m not sure yet,” he said of potentially retiring from the sport. “I still love competing, so I am just taking it one day at a time and enjoying every experience.”
Snowboarding is a young person’s sport. Only one of the 24 halfpipe competitors at Beijing — 35-year-old American Shaun White — will be older than Vito.
He understands just making the finals will be a steep challenge in a field loaded with young and talented phenoms, but Vito firmly believes he can still compete with the best.
“I have never had the mindset of just being happy to be there,” he said. “I always want to shoot for the stars. I just want to do my best and stay on my feet. That’s really all I can do.”
Despite the concerns with COVID — athletes must test every day — Vito decided to take part in the opening ceremonies in Beijing. He told the NBC In The Village Podcast it is a decision he is glad he made.
“I always say the opening ceremonies is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, highlights of the Olympics,” he said. “It is hard to put into words with the goose bumps you get.”
The qualifying runs in the halfpipe begin tonight at 11:30 p.m. Eastern time. The finals will be conducted at 8:30 p.m. Thursday. NBC is providing Olympic television coverage. For TV listings and schedules, go to www.nbcolympics.com