It's always great to see one of our own make his way to a worldwide stage like the Winter Olympics.

The games in Pyeongchang, South Korea will kick off on Thursday night, with the Opening Ceremony taking place on Friday. One of the American athletes was born in Pittsfield.

Chris Mazdzer, who was born at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield back in 1988, will represent the US as a Luger. Mazdzer lived in Lenox before moving to Lanesborough, and you know there are plenty of sledding hills in our county to hone this specific craft. The family would move to New York, where Chris was just miles from the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid.

Mazdzer would find himself very fascinated by bobsledding and luging, and according to his Olympic Bio, he chose luge because the line for it "was much shorter." He has won multiple national championships and has competed in the 2010, as well as 2014 Winter Olympics.

Although he no longer claims residence in the Berkshires, he takes the area with him for each Winter Olympics; as he told to the Berkshire Eagle right before the 2014 games in Sochi.

"I was born in Pittsfield," Mazdzer said, "and I learned how to walk and sled in Lanesborough. I think I've stayed pretty true to my roots."

Hopefully, we will see Mazdzer take home some gold when he we watch the men's luge finals on Feb. 11, but you'll have to wake up early to see it happen at 6 a.m.

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