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Mike Elliott Durango Olympian Passes Away at 82

The athlete was a three-time Winter Olympic in cross-country skiing. Mike Elliott, an iconic Durango athlete who competed in three Olympics and served in the Vietnam War, died Sept. 23 at his home, surrounded by family. He was 82 years old.

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Elliott participated in the Winter Olympic in 1964, 1968, and 1972. His best finishes were 12th in the 4x10 kilometer ski relay in Grenoble, France, in 1968; and 12th in the 4x10 kilometer cross-country ski relay in Sapporo, Japan, in 1972.

Dolph Kuss, a longtime mentor and coach of Elliott, remarked, 'His competitive spirit was unmatched; he was solely focused on finishing first. He approached every challenge with meticulous preparation, pushing himself to perform at the highest level.

Born in Durango on April 3, 1942, Elliott began cross-country skiing as a child and graduated from Durango High School and Fort Lewis College. At FLC, Elliott won the skiing championships in 1965 and 1966 and earned All-American honors each of those years.

Mike Elliott: A Legacy of Inspiration and Service in Skiing and Beyond

Alan Small, a friend of Elliott's and a fellow top-level skier, was inspired by Elliott traveling to Europe to compete. He remembered welcoming Elliot home from Finland at the airport.

I remember him getting off the plane, just coming back from Europe, and I looked at Mike and I said to myself, 'One day, I'm going to do the same thing Small said. He was a true inspiration for me, my racing, and my achievements. He really inspired me to go all out and go there as well. I did and it's because of him. If that hadn't happened, I might not have had the inspiration to go as far as I did.

In addition to competing in the Winter Olympics, Elliott competed in the FIS World Championships in 1962, 1966 and 1970.

Elliott postponed his athletic career in 1968 to serve as an infantry officer in the United States Army, including a year in Vietnam. Elliott was awarded the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross and the Bronze Star Medal for his service.

Mike Elliott: A Multifaceted Legacy of Athletic Achievement and Community Dedication

Alongside his skiing career, Elliott is remembered in Durango history for winning the inaugural Iron Horse bike race in 1972.

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After his Winter Olympic skiing career, Elliott joined President Gerald Ford's Presidential Commission on Olympic Sports. He later returned to Durango, where he spent 10 years as head coach of the Durango Nordic Ski Club and 13 years as executive director of Rocky Mountain Nordic. Additionally, Elliott held various positions at Purgatory Ski Resort for 25 years.

Elliott was inducted into the Fort Lewis College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1981 and became the first FLC student-athlete to achieve this distinction. Elliott met his wife, Nancy, in 1985 and married in 1988. Twin sons, Evan and Tad, and a daughter, Paige. Reflecting on her first meeting with Mike, Nancy said he told her she wanted an Irish ceremony after he died. It was a strange first meeting she said, but Mike’s thoughts were how much he loved Durango and how much he wanted to give back to the community.

Remembering Mike Elliott: A Loving Father and Champion of Stories

He wanted to go to Greenmount (Cemetery) to meet his grandparents and his parents, and he wanted to get in the red car, because he liked the red car she said.

He said Mike didn’t want to be misremembered or praised. Instead, he wants people to have a good time, drink and talk.

He was a journalist. He enjoyed a good story she said.

Paige Elliott, Mike’s daughter, said her father was an Olympian, cheerleader, cheerleader, mentor and mentor. Above all, he was a father.

Mike Elliott: A Legacy of Leadership and Community Spirit in Durango

What meant the most to him was ‘dad She said. He reminded us of that throughout our lives.And I think it’s really cool for someone who’s accomplished so much to be so proud of his family. Durango resident Jim Hards worked with Elliott for years at Purgatory Resort, and when the ski resort was known as Durango Mountain Resort.

He said Elliott was a great player, a people leader and a great citizen who served Durango and the state well. Elliott runs the Purgatory site, which brings guests to the ski area. Hards says, it starts a conversation with the outside world. He’s a leader, he’s motivating and taking action, and he’s a leader. It will be stopped, he said.

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Mike Elliott's Triumph at the Iron Horse: A Race Fueled by Passion and Rivalry

There was a festival atmosphere. Kuss's oldest son, Mike, competing in the junior division, was doing cartwheels just before the start. Helmets weren't required, although Elliott wore what he calls a leather brain bucket — a vented contraption that exposed more of the head than it covered.

As intended, the riders followed the train to Animas Valley, and when the whistle sounded, the race began. Elliott's strongest competitor that day was Ed Kautz, a bearded Wildlife Division employee whom Elliott had known. Kautz had taught Elliott some cycling tactics and he had helped Elliott prepare his bike.

Kautz was the last rider to lay eyes on Elliott, who pulled away and rode alone to Coal Bank Pass. Elliott's remarkable fitness and adaptation to high altitude began. With few prizes or fame – Elliott says he was given a handshake and a candle – it was just competitive juices. I wanted to win it with as much time as I could.

Dolph Kuss was following the contestants in a vehicle. So was Elliott's sister, Lucy Olson with her husband, Art. Kuss was one of the first to congratulate Elliott on finishing atop Coal Bank.

Minutes later Kautz moved up Coal Bank to take second overall and Elliott was quoted in The Durango Herald as saying. Next time I help work on your bike, I'll put epoxy on the gears.

Cycling to Coaching: The Enduring Legacy of Mike Elliott and His Family

After several other riders crossed the finish line—Mike Hackett is thought to have placed third overall, with Tom Mayer, the event's founder, finishing fourth many began to pack up and continued on to Silverton.

For many riders that day, the descents at Coal Bank and Molas were the hardest part of the ride, something new and exciting but scary. Elliott remembers it was the last coal bank.

Ironically, Elliott and Kuss didn't know Tom Mayer before the race, but they did know his brother Jim, a Denver & Rio Grande Western brakeman and the other half of Iron Horse lore. Jim had helped load their packs many times when they used the train to access their backpacking adventure trails.

A few months after that inaugural Iron Horse, Elliott moved to Massachusetts to work for A&T Ski Co., a ski manufacturer. He wouldn’t ride the Iron Horse again until years later, participating instead as a runner. In 1978, while working at Purgatory Sports downtown, Elliott and Larry Malick planned the course for the 10-mile narrow gauge run, a Memorial Day weekend event that continues today.

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Cycling became a big part of Elliott and Kuss' children's lives. Evan Elliott was briefly a serious downhill mountain biker. His twin brother, Tad, claimed several under-23 mountain bike race victories and worked as a mechanic at Mountain Bike Specialists before transitioning to cross-country skiing, where he nearly qualified for the Olympics. Evan, Tad, and sister Paige all coached cross-country skiing.

Mike Elliott's Impact on the Iron Horse: A Legacy of Inspiration and Prestige

Sepp Kuss, son of Dolph and his second wife, Sabina, is now one of the best road cyclists in the world, known primarily for his climbing skills. Kuss won the 2017 Iron Horse just as his professional cycling career was taking off. He has recently won stages in two major tours, the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France.

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After the big races he calls mum and dad who went to visit Sepp in the fall of 2021 at his home in Andorra, a principality in the Pyrenees mountains on the France-Spain border. I've never been an observer or a spectator of sports said Dolph Kuss. But since Sepp started riding, I’ve gotten to know the players. And even if he's not riding, I know the other players on his team. makes it interesting.

In 1972, Elliott would never have dreamed that every May, even half a century later, people would still be asking him about his winning bike ride. Iron Horse's popularity flourished without Elliott around, but perhaps Elliott's achievement meant more to the event than it first appears.

Race director Ed Zink knew Elliott's win would add prestige. From a marketing perspective, it was lucky. It was especially fortunate that someone of his caliber won it Zink told the Herald in 2017. The cycling media took it a lot more seriously because an Olympian won it than if a kid from Durango had won it. Elliott's candle to victory in 1972 is long gone, but the memories burn brightly.

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