2010 U.S. Olympic Team Media Summit Newsletter, Sept. 11

Louie was featured in the U.S. Olympic Team Media Summit Newsletter (that’s a mouthful). Here’s another excerpt. Click on the link to download the full PDF.

While Louis Vito and Kevin Pearce, 2010 Olympic hopefuls for halfpipe snowboard- ing, will be jostling for a spot on the team, it’s what they’re doing outside of training for the Games that sets them apart from other boarders.
Take 21-year-old Vito, who will be appear- ing on ABC’s popular reality show “Dancing with the Stars” starting Sept. 21. The Ohio native says it’s a good way to stay in shape and allows him to take his mind off of snow- boarding.
“You can laugh at me all you want,” Vito said. “I just need your vote.”
But halfpipe snowboarding and dancing couldn’t be more different, so trading his board for ballroom shoes has been a bit of a challenge.
“My snowboarding posture doesn’t really work for the ballroom,” he said. “In snow- boarding you can take a trick that everybody does and put your own twist and your own flare on it, but [in the ballroom] you have to do it that way. There’s a correct way. It’s a little stricter lifestyle than snowboarding is.”

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If you haven’t found it already, Louie was featured on the L.A. Times Olympic Blog. Take some time to get to know him better! Here’s a excerpt:

“To be honest, I’m not a ballroom dancing type of guy,” Vito said. “I have pretty much no idea what is going on.” Vito is trying to follow the tips (orders?) given him by his pro partner, Chelsie Hightower, 20, who is in her second year on the show.

“She is teaching me not to do the wrong step and trip over my feet,” Vito said. Vito said “Dancing with the Stars” first approached him for the 2008 season. When that didn’t work out, he thought they wouldn’t ask again until after the Olympics. When the call came again last spring, it was too good to pass up, but he has no illusions about where it could take him.

“I’m a snowboarder,” he said. “I’m supposed to be a snowboarder on the show.”

Vito could be tied up dancing until November, but he has gotten the show’s approval to take time away for snowboard training if needed. He figures the four to six hours of dance practice a day will keep him fit.

“I have talked to other athletes who said they were in a lot better shape after doing the show,” he said.

Vito also thinks being out of his comfort zone will help him on the halfpipe.

“If I can get in shape to do something I’m not comfortable with in front of 22 million (TV) viewers a week, it should be a breeze to be in front of the people who are at a (snowboarding) competition,” he said.

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