Sometimes in the Olympics, nerves and fear can get the best of the athletes.

And sometimes, they can get the best of the athletes’ parents.

While snowboarder Ben Ferguson soared more than 20 feet out of the halfpipe as he battled eventual gold medalist Shaun White and others in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February, his mother, looking on from the crowd, found it difficult to watch.

“I usually have to stand behind someone and cover my eyes,” said Jennifer Ferguson. “Of course, you want them to do well, but you want them to be safe, is the main thing. But at this point, I’ve seen him do it enough times that it’s not quite as scary as it used to be.”

Fearing for the safety of their children is one of the roller coaster of emotions parents experience through the triumphs and disappointments of their children pursuing Olympic dreams.

Four sets of parents of Bend Olympians endured angst and nerves as they watched their children perform on perhaps the biggest stage in sports last month at the Pyeongchang Winter Games. They came back with incredible memories of the thrilling moments as their kids raced down the slopes or twisted and flipped high above the halfpipe.

Parents of halfpipe snowboarders Ferguson and Kent Callister, and of alpine skiers Tommy Ford and Laurenne Ross, recently shared the best of their South Korea experiences with The Bulletin.

“It’s kind of surreal, because I don’t think you imagine when you’ve got little kids that one of your kids is going to go to the Olympics,” said Laurenne Ross’ father, Rob Ross, who began teaching his daughter to ski when she was 2. “It’s a dream for lots of kids when they’re 5, and 10 and 15, but it doesn’t happen for that many people. So it’s pretty special.”

Proud parents of fourth-place Ferguson

“Special” is a fitting description for the season that Ferguson enjoyed in 2017-18. He was the first snowboarder to qualify for the U.S. Olympic men’s halfpipe team, which took some of the stress off himself and his parents.

“I was more nervous I think for that first qualifier than I was at the Olympics,” Jennifer Ferguson said.

She traveled with her husband, Branden Ferguson, as well as her father, Bob Blosch, to Pyeongchang. Several aunts and uncles also went to watch Ferguson in his first Olympics.

He finished fourth, just off the medal stand, as fellow U.S. rider White won his third Olympic gold medal in thrilling fashion on his final run.

Ferguson, 23, and his family were satisfied with his result, as he landed his best run. (In halfpipe, snowboarders are judged on the style, amplitude and execution of their aerial tricks as they ride in and out of the pipe.)

“I don’t think he could have bumped his score up too much more,” Jennifer Ferguson said. “So I think he was actually stoked. So he was happy, and we were happy. You could go over there and crash on all your runs, and that happened to some other Americans. I think he was stoked on it.

“I do think after being there, he might want to try to go back again in four years.”

Jennifer and Branden Ferguson could have two sons competing in halfpipe in the next Winter Olympics — in Beijing in 2022 — as younger son Gabe, 18, finished sixth in U.S. Olympic team qualifying this past season. Jennifer said it would be “insane” if that happened, adding, however, that anything is possible.

As a mom, she just likes to see her sons snowboarding together, as they did growing up on the slopes of Mount Bachelor.

“I love when they’re riding together and helping each other at the competitions,” she said. “That’s one of my favorite things: … seeing them help each other out and cheer for each other.”

Tommy Ford benefits from rowdy cheering section

That type of peer support is what Ford and Ross have enjoyed from each other, as well as from their parents, since they were kids growing up ski racing with the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation.

Ford’s mother, Mary Ellen Ford, coached a group that included her son and Ross when they were youngsters in MBSEF. The two young adults are now a couple, and their families made a point to watch their races together in Pyeongchang.

Mary Ellen and Mark Ford have made a concerted effort to attend more of their son’s World Cup races in Europe over the past few years. They attended several this season, even spending Christmas in Spain with him and Ross.

But they decided a week before the Olympics that they would make the trip to South Korea.

“We were really seriously concerned about going over there because of the geopolitical situation,” said Mark Ford, a former ski coach and U.S. Ski Team member. “But the athletes are going, and the coaches and staff, so we can go, too.”

At the Olympics, Ford, 29, had quite the cheering section when he raced his two combined runs in the giant slalom. The group included his parents, his brother Tyson and several of his friends — and Ross and her parents, among others.

“You’re in a crowd, and it’s hard not to be affected by the excitement,” Mark Ford said. “It really is infectious. People we don’t even know that are near us realize we have a son racing, and pretty soon, they’re rooting for him, too. So this couple was French, and one was Dutch. We all rooted for each other’s kids.”

Ford struggled with equipment issues on his first run, and he found himself in 28th place going into his second and final run. Between runs, he was able to chat briefly with his friends and family, who were impossible to miss with their gaudy “Tommy Ford” banners.

“He was so happy to see us there,” Mary Ellen Ford recalls. “We were screaming! Tyson, his brother, brought four friends with him, and the Rosses were there, and then people around us joined in.”

Mark Ford said he thinks that seeing so many familiar faces helped refresh and relax his son going into his second run.

He skied much faster on the final run, finishing sixth in the run to place 20th overall.

“Sometimes, it’s reassuring to see family and friends who aren’t judging the result,” Mark said. “They will love them and support them no matter what. It’s a little relief in the moment for him, just realizing there’s this unconditional support. You could see him get past that frustration and calm down. And then, you could see him get really determined. You could see the difference in that second run.”

Tommy Ford’s parents also traveled to watch him in his first Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, when he finished 26th in giant slalom.

After comeback, Ross ‘goes for it’ in Pyeongchang

Pyeongchang was also the second Olympics for Ross, 29, who finished 11th in the downhill at the Sochi Games in 2014. To qualify for the Pyeongchang Games, Ross had to overcome a severe knee injury suffered in March 2017.

“I was more nervous for her in December, when she first went back (to ski racing),” her father Rob Ross said. “And then, she had a couple good results, and I got less nervous. But, yeah, she hasn’t completely healed, so you just think, ‘God, don’t re-injure it.’ Part of it is they have to go for it (in the Olympics), and I think she did. She felt like she went for it, certainly in the super-G. She wasn’t as hesitant. She tried her best to go fast.”

Ross finished 15th in the super-G and the downhill in Pyeongchang, giving her three top-15 Olympic finishes in her career.

Rob Ross and Janey Purvis, who is Rob’s wife and Laurenne’s mother, also attended the ice-dancing event in Pyeongchang, and they spent a day in Seoul exploring the vast city of 10 million people and its sprawling fish markets.

While language barriers and transportation issues were prevalent, one thing all the parents of the Bend Olympians agreed on was the kindness and generosity of the South Koreans.

Mark Ford said that when they arrived in Seoul they could not find their hotel. When two men — described by Mark Ford as cheery businessmen who perhaps had enjoyed an adult beverage or two — saw his U.S. Ski Team jacket, they eagerly worked through the language barrier to help them find their way.

“The people are the sweetest, nicest people you could ever find,” Mary Ellen Ford said.

Parents watch Callister notch another top-10

Kim and Brett Callister, Kent Callister’s parents, enjoyed a similar welcome.

“I have to say the people made the experience what it was,” Kim Callister said. “We stayed with a family, and they just bent over backwards for us and drove us to every event. They were very excited to have the Olympics in South Korea.”

The Callisters, who moved to San Diego from Bend last year, attended the opening ceremonies a few days before watching their 22-year-old son in the halfpipe. Because his father is Australian, Kent Callister has dual citizenship and competes for Australia.

Neither of Callister’s parents made it to Sochi to watch him finish ninth in the 2014 Games. But in Pyeongchang, they got to see their son earn a second straight top-10 Olympic finish as he placed 10th.

“It’s surreal standing there and hearing your son’s name broadcast like that, and knowing everyone’s watching it. … All his hard work … it’s a culmination of all his practicing, and healthy diets, and all of that coming together,” Kim Callister said.

It’s a proud moment for parents, no matter where their sons or daughters place.

— Reporter: 541-383-0318, mmorical@bendbulletin.com