PINCKNEY, Mich. – There are 21 days until the opening of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
Athletes for Team USA are still qualifying to compete in the games, and Local 4 met a young man from Pinckney who's halfway around the world trying to achieve his Olympic dream.
Jake Vedder doesn't do jumps, flips and tricks on a snowboard. The sport is called halfpipe, and his event is boardercross.
"It's like motocross," Vedder said. "First one to the bottom wins."
Vedder likes to do jumps, flips and tricks but, in boardercross, he's going downhill at 60 mph, elbow to elbow with other snowboarders. The self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie said that's where he finds his rush.
At age 19, he has already done plenty of winning, including a gold medal at the Youth Olympics in Norway in 2016. His father is a snowboard instructor, so he got an early start.
By age 13, he had exhausted all local competition at Mt. Brighton. He was invited to train with the U.S. snowboarding team.
Now, at age 19, he ranks among the best snowboarders in the country.
Vedder is from Pinckney, and he said that everyone he meets is surprised to learn that his snowboarding him is Mount Brighton.
Last month, at Children's Hospital, Vedder found one of his biggest fans, Isiah, who was a little starstruck. Vedder arranged a visit during his brief time home from training.
With the Olympics in three weeks, Vedder is in Turkey trying to win one of four spots on the U.S. boardercross team.
You can watch Steve Garagiola's full story in the video posted above.