Chris Mazdzer is at the U.S. Winter Olympics representing Team USA, his fourth appearance in the Olympic Games.
After winning the silver medal in the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, Mazdzer finished eighth in the Luge this year.
Dancing with the Stars fans know Chris from his appearance on the reality dancing competition series, where he competed in the 26th season of the show.
In a recent interview, Chris talked about training for the Olympics and training for Dancing with the Stars, and revealed that the dancing training was harder for him.
Olympian Chris Mazdzer talks Dancing with the Stars training
Chris Mazdzer competed on Season 26 of Dancing with the Stars, where he teamed with Witney Carson and was eliminated in the third week of the shortened season. This meant he finished in fourth place.
In an interview with NBC Boston, Mazdzer said he was more nervous going into Dancing with the Stars than he was competing in the Olympics.
“I mean, talk about terrifying,” Chris said. “Like, cool, 10 million people are about to watch me.”
He also said it was harder for him to train for Dancing with the Stars than it was for the Olympics. He said it was because he had been competing in the luge for 20 years.
“I was only training for a couple days before those dances, where with luge I’m like ‘I’ve been doing this for 20 years, I got it,’” Mazdzer said. “Little different mindset” he added.
Olympians on Dancing with the Stars
Olympians have always done well on Dancing with the Stars.
The season with Chris Mazdzer was interesting because it included all sports stars.
That season included fellow Olympians, showboarder Jamie Anderson, softball pitcher Jennie Finch, figure skater Mirai Nagasu, figure skater Tonya Harding, and figure skater Adam Rippon.
Also involved was NFL star Josh Norman, basketball player Arike Ogunbowale, baseball player Johnny Damon, and NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Adam Rippon won the season.
He joined a list of Olympians to win the Mirrorball trophy.
Speed Skater Apolo Ohno won in Season 4, figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi won in Season 6, figure skater Shawn Johnson won in Season 7, ice dancer Meryl Davis won in Season 18, and gymnast Laurie Hernandez won in Season 23.
In the most recent season, gymnast Suni Lee competed and finished in fifth place.
Dancing with the Stars is on hiatus. The dancing reality competition series will return to ABC in late 2022.