West Bloomfield honors hometown Olympian

From Korea to Michigan, the accolades continue for Olympic silver medalist Kyle Mack. West Bloomfield turned out in a show of support to welcome him home Sunday.

"When we learned that Kyle Mack, a West Bloomfield resident, gained a spot in the 2018 Olympics, we wanted to honor him regardless of the outcome," says Steve Kaplan, West Bloomfield Township Supervisor. The outcome? Kyle earned a silver medal in snowboarding. 

"It's insane to see all these people come out and see all these people who want to congratulate me, this is one of the biggest honor I could ever think of," he said. 

Many in the crowd aspired to be like Kyle.

"I grew up watching him snowboard off his house. It was really cool, so I thought I would try it," says Ryan Ficus. 

"We both snowboard and it's cool to see someone who made it so far. He trained at Alpine Valley, which is where we go to snowboard. So it's cool to see someone who went from Alpine where we are to the Olympics," says friends Sophia Elsen and Rayna Freeman.

Kyle's rise from 3-year-old beginner snowboarder to Olympic medalist is still like a dream to his family.

"People coming up and saying he represented the U.S. so well and we're so proud to know someone who's a part of the community, it's amazing. These little kids just keep coming up and touching him," says proud Mom Connie Mack. 

"It was really amazing. My whole body froze when I met him. I got to touch the medal. I really wanted to see him in real life, not just on TV," says Carl Tisler, a young fan of the Olympics. 

Future snowboarders are thrilled to win a replica of Kyle's winning board, imagining their spot in Olympic history.

"My future is I would like to make it to Beijing in 2022 and be standing there with him," says Brian Rice. 

"So excited to see that. I'm hoping there's more kids coming out of Michigan are killing it. Michigan strong," Kyle says. 

After these festivities, it's back to work for Kyle. He plans to chase the snow in Norway in preparation for the Olympics in 2022.