Skier, family stop in Rome, meet with pope before returning to U.S.

Published: 2006-03-08

ROME (CNS) -- Olympic cross-country skier Rebecca Dussault left Turin's Alpine peaks to head to Rome's baroque basilicas, taking a weeklong vacation and meeting the pope before heading home to Colorado. The devout Catholic family's week in Rome turned out to be a much-needed, relaxing vacation and memorable way to top off what Dussault called "a climactic spiritual journey" during her first Olympics. She and her husband, Sharbel, and 4-year-old son, Tabor, took part in Pope Benedict XVI's March 1 general audience and later that day attended the pope's special Ash Wednesday Mass at Rome's Basilica of Santa Sabina. It was a "heavenly and moving" experience, making it a day they would never forget, she said. Dussault said although she did not win any medals in Turin she grabbed the attention of world media because "people were so curious" about her story: how she had the name of her favorite saint-in-the-making, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, on her skis and how she trained and competed all over the U.S. and Europe with her husband and son by her side.

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