Utah skier aims for the Olympics

It only took two trips down a mountain in Finland for Bryon Wilson's Olympic dream to go from a distant hope to a tangible reality.

Two weeks ago, he traveled with the U.S. Freestyle team to Suomo, Finland, with the moguls team, planning to train on a World Cup course for a couple of days. When a teammate was injured the day before the first of two World Cup events, coaches asked Wilson to step in and compete.

The 21-year-old jumped at the chance and said he just tried to focus on doing his best, which included his trademark double twisting full back flip.

"I was just in the mindset of competing well," said Wilson. "(In the finals), I qualified ninth (out of 12), and I heard them say, 'Second place.' I had to wait and see what happened. It was an amazing feeling."

The first day's second-place finish was just beginning to sink in when he pulled off another second-place finish in the subsequent competition. The two podiums move Wilson from B Team to A Team and significantly increase his chances of making the 2010 Olympic Freestyle Team.

"I went over for the Europa Cup (scoring a second-place finish) and had no expectations to ski the World Cup. Everything fell into place, and I don't know how to explain how it happened. It just did. No one expects it, but it's an amazing thing."

Even being named to the B Team didn't convince Wilson that he wouldn't be an Olympian in 2010.

"I'd like to hope so," he said of working toward the Vancouver Olympics this winter. "I went into the winter season, the season before, I'd won the National Championship. So I was on the B team. I thought I would get World Cup starts, but I wasn't discretioned onto the team."

He did plan to compete alongside those A Team skiers in Lake Placid, N.Y., and Deer Valley, which would have helped him improve his chances. Then Landon Gardner was injured in training in Finland.

"It was unfortunate that one of my teammates got hurt, but they put me in, and I made the best of it," he said at a recent teleconference. "It's such a relief to be up there (on the A Team)."

In addition to earning points toward a spot on the Olympic team, Wilson now gets other privileges.

"You get your travel paid for," he said. "You get lunch money. You don't have to worry about re-qualifying."