SARANAC LAKE — Early Sunday morning, many local residents were glued to the TV, cheering for their own Chris Mazdzer at the Winter Olympics — and the village was buzzing with excitement after he won a silver medal in luge.

The only other time an American has won an Olympic medal in singles luge was four years ago, when Mazdzer’s teammate Erin Hamlin won bronze.

“I’m sitting there in the shower, trying to watch the end of the race,” said Dr. Patricia Monroe, whose medical practice used to be across the hospital hall from where Chris’ father, Dr. Ed Mazdzer, had his neurology office. Chris’ mother Marty was her husband’s receptionist. Dr. Mazdzer has since moved his practice to Plattsburgh, but the couple still lives in Saranac Lake.

“He did a nice interview,” Monroe said. “He’s such a well-spoken young man. You know, he’s quite mature in the Olympic world, and you can tell he’s done this before and knows what he’s doing. But the last thing he said was hello to everybody at home.

Ellington native and Falconer Central School graduate Matt Oakes, second from right, celebrates Chris Mazdzer’s silver medal in the luge Sunday. Oakes is a certified athletic trainer with the U.S. Luge team. Photo courtesy of Matt Oakes

“You know what the best part of that whole Olympics was? His mother was just as excited at the end of the first race as she was at the end of the fourth.”

In Pyeongchang, a “USA” chant from Mazdzer’s family and friends turned to silence as he prepared for his fourth and final run. As soon as he burst out of the starting position and pushed himself down the track, the cheers started again.

Mazdzer descended the Alpensia Sliding Centre’s track at speeds excess of 80 mph, not bumping into any walls along the way. At some points it looked like he could beat Austria’s David Gleirscher and take home the gold. He crossed the finish line with a cumulative time of 3:10.728 and followed Gleirscher by only 0.026 seconds.

Germany’s Felix Loch was expected to win his fourth Olympic gold medal. He won gold medals in men’s singles at the last two Olympics, plus one in the inaugural team relay from the 2014 Sochi Olympics. However, on his final run, Loch bumped into a wall and turned sideways going into curve 12. This slowed his speed, resulted in a cumulative time of 3:10.968 and kept in him out of the medal bracket.

Cherie and Steve Racette’s son DJ went to school and ran track with Chris Mazdzer in Saranac Lake.

“Oh, my gosh, it was just amazing watching him, and was SO exciting to see him get (the medal),” Cherie said. “When Chris jumped the fence to go over to his family, it was like, ‘Yea!’

“We were standing in front of the TV going, ‘Go, go!'”

She told her son, not knowing he hadn’t wanted to hear the news before he watched it on TV tonight.

“DJ, he was at a track meet, and he was like, ‘Ah, I wanted to see it!'”

The Racettes said they felt sad that Loch blew such a strong lead, but they also agreed he has won enough Olympic medals.

“Let someone else enjoy it,” Steve said.

They were also excited to hear the Olympic broadcasters mention Saranac Lake more than once.

“And they didn’t even say we were the coldest spot in the whole nation,” Cherie added. “That’s usually why we’re published.”

“They did say he was used to the cold weather, though,” Steve said with a laugh.

As the news about Mazdzer spread, Jeff Branch and his ninth-grade son Logan were excited to hear it.

“This small town produces; it really does,” Jeff said.

“Cool!,” Logan said. “That’s really good.”

Neighbors of the Mazdzers’ family, Amy and Bob Sweet, celebrated the win with some medals of their own. On Sunday morning they hung a congratulations sign attached to circle of cardboard covered in aluminum foil above the Mazdzers’ front door on Birch Street.

Bob said they live-streamed Mazdzer’s final run. Their immediate reaction — tears of joy.

“This is big news for Saranac Lake,” Amy said. “We’re so thrilled for him and his family.”

The whole time Amy talked about Mazdzer, an ecstatic smile never left her face. She tried covering her mouth with her hands a few times, but her excitement shined through.

“I wanna see him on the Wheaties box,” she said with a laugh.

Amy and another neighbor, Jackie Gardner, have been feeding and taking care of the Mazdzers’ family cat while everyone is overseas in South Korea.

“We’re part of the team, too,” Amy said chuckling.

Ken Fontana, co-owner of the Blue Moon Cafe, used to luge at the World Cup level in the 1980s. He’s a fan of the sport through and through and has a few posters from the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, hanging in his restaurant.

Fontana said he figured Mazdzer would have a respectable finish, but winning the medal is more than he could’ve hoped.

“I would’ve been ecstatic if it was someone from God knows where in America, but having a local win makes it that much better,” he said.

As a former slider, Fontana said he respects Mazdzer’s hard work and strategy.

“You could see he slides like a guy who never makes the same mistake twice,” he said.

It’s doesn’t just take the right equipment to be a good slider, according to Fontana. Much of it involves dedication and respecting your coaches.

“So much work goes into shaving those seconds off,” he said. “Just to get that potential, you need to be a special person. You got to have thick skin and be a hard worker.”

Fontana said he believes Mazdzer’s win could bring luge out of the niche realm in the U.S.

“The future of the sport is the 5-year-old kid who watched Chris win the medal today,” he said.