A last minute injury on the U.S. Olympic ski team means Derby native Tricia Mangan is now Olympic-bound.
It is hard to imagine what Mangan is feeling.
In fact, shortly after getting the news, the skier said she wasn't even sure what she was feeling.
"It feels pretty surreal," Mangan said.
The 20-year-old has been on the Olympic hunt for years and thought she was waiting four more years before getting another shot.
"Obviously, I was bummed initially when I didn't make the team," Mangan said.
But then she got the call Tuesday that a teammate was injured and she was next in line.
"Our head woman's coach called me and told me and I immediately called my parents and told them and started crying when I called them," Mangan said. "It's pretty incredible that I'll be racing at the Olympics in a couple days."
The chain of events started this past week in Germany.
U.S. Alpine skier Jackie Wiles suffered significant leg injuries in a crash.
That closed the door for Wiles but opened the door for Mangan, who has been working her way up. She has competed at the World Cup level this year, earning enough points to qualify as an Olympic alternate.
And now she drops the alternate title. She is on the U.S. Olympic Ski Team.
"I don't know if it's sunken in yet," Mangan said. "But I'm super honored and excited and really grateful for this opportunity."
Mangan's parents are working on getting to South Korea by the time she competes in the giant slalom on Monday.
Mangan grew up in Derby. She started her Olympic-bound ski career at Hollimont.
She was homeschooled through eighth grade before attending Nardin.
When she is not skiing, she attends Dartmouth where she studies biomedical engineering. She has a 3.9 GPA.