Two Gould Academy Athletes Compete in Youth Olympics

Two students from Gould Academy—a private, college preparatory high school in Bethel, Maine—are currently competing in the Youth Olympics Games in Lausanne, Switzerland. Maxx Parys, a senior at Gould, is representing U.S. Ski and Snowboard in alpine skiing, while Dali Gao, a sophomore, is representing China in snowboardcross. Sunday River is the home mountain and training facility for Gould Academy’s On-Snow Competition Program.

Competitions began on January 10 and will continue until the Closing Ceremony on January 22. Parys is scheduled to compete in super-g, super combined, giant slalom, slalom, and the team event, and has already completed events in a few of these disciplines. As of December, Gao was the second-highest ranked Chinese male snowboardcross athlete in the world, and competed in the SBX World Cup in Montafon, Austria. His events will take place closer to the end of the games.

“To compete at this level takes a huge commitment from everyone involved,” says Gould Academy’s On-Snow Program Director Kurt Simard. “Maxx and Dali have taken advantage of everything that Gould has to offer, both on the hill and in the classroom. This is a special piece of their journey. We are proud. It’s great to know we can be elite worldwide.”

“We’ve had a long-standing partnership with Gould Academy, and it’s exciting to see part of our Sunday River family competing on an international level. Our whole team is rooting for Maxx and Dali,” says Sunday River’s Resort President and General Manager, Dana Bullen.