Few people have held more roles in the winter Olympics than lifelong skier . In the 1964 '68 Winter Games, Bower competed in Nordic Combined, an event that includes cross-country skiing and ski jumping. After retiring from competition, he was the team leader for the US Nordic squad at the '76 and '80 Games, and he held the same job for the US ski jumping and Nordic Combined teams during the '92 Games. From 1988 to '92, Bower was the US Ski team Nordic program director, and in '92 he was appointed director of the Utah Winter Sports Park—now called the Utah Olympic Park.
During a seven-year stint at the park, Bower oversaw the construction and development of the facility, which will host the bobsled, luge, and ski jumping events this month in Salt Lake City. But most recently, perhaps his most important Olympic involvement has been as a parent of one of this year's top contenders. Bower's son Ricky is a member of the US Snowboard Team, and as of mid-December, Ricky was a top contender for a berth on the US team in the halfpipe discipline. (The halfpipe involves riding a snowboard down a 100-yard by 300-yard trench that has a 10-degree slope and 12-foot-high walls.)
In an interview with Sports Illustrated writer , Bower tells how he has relied on prayer to guide him through his various Olympic activities, and to heal the various challenges he has faced along the way.
