Olympic Medalist Gets Surprise From Mom Who Won Gold 50 Years Ago

Silver medalist skier Ryan Cochran-Siegel grins ear-to-ear as gold medalist mama surprises him on air

Imagine you just catapulted yourself at an alarming speed down a snowy mountain. You’re flying through the air, landing jumps, whipping skis left and right. On top of it all, you’re among the best of the best, in the highest pressure situation you can be in. And the thing is… you actually get second place. Who are you calling? Mom of course!

But one phone call for Olympic glory just won’t do. Newly dubbed silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegel was doing an appearance on the Today Show when reporter Craig Melvin asked him about his FaceTime with mom after the big win.

“I watched live while you were FaceTiming with your mom on the slopes,” Melvin recalled. “… so we figured ‘you know what, maybe we should FaceTime mom as well!'”

Then he “brought out” the big surprise and Barbara Anne had a moment with her baby boy as Cochran-Siegel let out a big toothy grin.

The mom revealed she couldn’t even remember what she said to her son because she was just so emotional.

“I don’t remember,” she explained. “I was so excited, I was just so proud. I was crying, it was just unbelievable. Congratulations, I’m just so proud Ryan, so proud of you.”

“I couldn’t hold it together,” Cochran-Siegle said about talking to his family to let them know the good news. “I was pretty emotional, too. I think I just wanted to share that moment with them, and it was cool. There weren’t very many words coming out of my mouth that I remember. Just so happy and elated that we were all teary-eyed.”

In 1972 Barbara Ann took home the gold medal for skiing herself (along with several Olympic brothers and sisters), so watching her son complete a similar goal was beyond rewarding. It was especially meaningful since the win came 50 years after her own win and nearly one year to the day after Cochran-Siegle’s accident that broke his neck. The Olympian had two vertebrae fused after a crash that nearly took his life.

“No more accidents,” Barbara Anne demanded.

Spoken like a true mother.