BORMIO, Italy (AP) — On her final World Cup run before retiring from the U.S. ski team in 2011, Sarah Schleper picked up her young son and carried him down the slalom course with her.
A bonding moment.
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Team Mexico flag bearer Sarah Schleper arrives for the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
FILE - Sarah Schleper holds her son Lasse as she skies down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Lienz, Austria, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Armando Trovati, File)
Team Mexico flag bearer Sarah Schleper arrives for the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
FILE - Sarah Schleper holds her son Lasse as she skies down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Lienz, Austria, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta, File)
More than 14 years later, here's another: Schleper and her now teenage son, Lasse Gaxiola, are competing for Mexico at the Milan Cortina Games. Her seventh Olympics — third with Mexico — and his inaugural trip will make history as they become the first mother and son to compete at the same Winter Games, according to research by Olympic historian Bill Mallon.
“This is hard to believe," said Schleper, who turns 47 on Feb. 19. “It's just a fantasy story.”
They may only get to see each other race primarily through the broadcast coverage, given the distance between their venues. Schleper will race the super-G (Thursday) and giant slalom (Sunday) in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Lasse will race in Bormio, about four hours away, in the giant slalom (Saturday) and the slalom (Monday).
“I'm hoping right after the GS I can bust a ride over to Bormio to watch his slalom,” she said.
Schleper’s husband, Federico, will be with Lasse as his coach.
“For me, success is just us both being here,” said Schleper, who was a flag bearer for Mexico at the opening ceremony. “We’ve found success.”
Lasse doesn’t really remember much from Dec. 29, 2011, in Austria when his mom swooped him up and took him down the slopes. He was about 4 at the time. It was the culmination of her time with the U.S. team after competing at four Olympics.
A final fun run to cap her career. With him.
She wore a dress that day, with a swimsuit underneath. He was in a heavy jacket and snow boots. Both were beaming through their ski goggles. And while he may not remember that, he fully realizes the significance of this moment and how much it means to share this experience with his mom.
“This is already such an amazing event," said Gaxiola, who turned 18 last month. "But coming here with my mom and getting to see my family, it just makes it feel so special and amazing to be together.”
For that, thanks mom.
Even farther back, a nod to Schleper's father, who she playfully said gave her the “ski bum” trait. Schleper wasn't ready to completely abandon racing after retiring from the U.S. squad. That travel bug ran deep.
The skier from Colorado gained Mexican citizenship, the country where her husband is from. She wasn't able to complete the process in time for the 2014 Sochi Games, the only Winter Games she's missed since her Olympic debut in 1998.
“I've had a great career. I’ve maintained a professional ski-bum lifestyle for a long time,” laughed Schleper, whose best Olympic finish was 10th in the slalom for Team USA at the 2006 Turin Games. “We travel the world. We eat amazing food. The sport has brought me so much.”
Lasse Gaxiola is named honor of Norwegian ski racing great Lasse Kjus, a three-time world champion. Gaxiola was in ski boots and on skis before he could even really walk.
“He'd be like, ‘Más, más (more, more),’ because he spoke Spanish first,” recalled Schleper, who brought him to training camps with her.
For him skiing was just as much about being with friends on the mountain as recording fast times. He's been around knowledgeable coaches his whole life, too, like the late Erich Sailer — the childhood coach of Lindsey Vonn — and, of course, his mom.
The talent is there. Gaxiola finished third in an entry-league giant slalom FIS event in Colorado in December. When he officially earned a spot and the family was recently notified, Schleper started screaming in the house.
For Schleper, this trip to the Olympics isn’t ceremonial. She’s there to compete. She had a top-five finish in a FIS super-G race last season in Vail. She also won a pair of FIS giant slalom races in 2024. She won't be diving into the slalom realm, though, not with Mikaela Shiffrin around.
“There’s no way I can compete at a level as Mikaela or these girls that are in the World Cup,” said Schleper, who coaches in Vail and whose daughter, Resi, is a figure skater. “But I still ski pretty well.”
Her coach at the Olympics is Hubertus Von Hohenlohe, the 67-year-old German prince /ski racer who competed for Mexico at the Olympics. Gaxiola will have his dad at his side. He serves as his son's ski technician, too, with help from mom from afar.
Any ski-racing similarities between mom and son?
“She’s a lot more patient than me,” Gaxiola explained. “I have maybe a little different style but she’s definitely molded me. She’s definitely the base of influence.”
His first real racing memory of mom was in fourth grade during an event in Italy. They had a chat, ski racer to ski racer: “She's like, ‘You have to send it,’” he recalled. “I was just thinking about that the whole time. How I just have to send it.”
Her advice now? Enjoy the moment.
“Just so many emotions being here with my family and everything,” Gaxiola said. "It's crazy. It’s awesome.”
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Team Mexico flag bearer Sarah Schleper arrives for the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
FILE - Sarah Schleper holds her son Lasse as she skies down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Lienz, Austria, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Armando Trovati, File)
Team Mexico flag bearer Sarah Schleper arrives for the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
FILE - Sarah Schleper holds her son Lasse as she skies down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Lienz, Austria, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta, File)
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to revive his struggling government but faced growing calls to resign after a disastrous set of local and regional elections for his Labour Party.
As the final results came in Saturday, Labour suffered a net loss of more than 1,100 local council seats across England, lost control of several local authorities it had held for decades and was booted from power in Wales after 27 years. Anti-immigration party Reform UK gained over 1,300 seats across England and made significant gains in legislative elections in Wales and Scotland.
It was a blunt verdict from voters in elections widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he led the center-left party to power less than two years ago.
Here are five things we’ve learned from the elections.
Starmer insisted he would not walk away and "plunge the country into chaos,” and the dire election results did not produce an immediate challenge to his leadership.
"The right thing to do is rebuild and show the path forward,” Starmer said Saturday. “That’s what I’m going to do in the coming days.”
Starmer’s Cabinet colleagues expressed support, and none of the high-profile Labour politicians considered potential challengers has made a move. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham are keeping quiet for now.
But a growing number of Labour lawmakers urged the prime minister to set a timetable for his departure this year. British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a new election.
“There has to be a timetable,” legislator Clive Betts told the BBC. Another lawmaker, Tony Vaughan, said there should be an “orderly transition of leadership.”
Starmer tried to demonstrate change on Saturday by bringing back two figures from past Labour governments. He made former Prime Minister Gordon Brown a special envoy on global finance, and appointed the party's ex-deputy leader Harriet Harman an adviser on women and girls.
Starmer is due to make a speech on Monday in an attempt to regain momentum, before the government sets out its legislative plans on Wednesday in a speech delivered by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament.
The elections were a breakthrough for Reform UK, the latest hard-right party led by the veteran nationalist politician Nigel Farage.
Running on an anti-establishment and anti-immigration message, the party won hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England’s north, such as Sunderland, that were solid Labour turf for decades. It also made gains from the Conservatives in areas like the county of Essex, east of London, and increased its vote share in Wales and Scotland, new terrain for the party.
Farage said the results marked a “historic change in British politics.” He said he's confident that “voters who have come to us are not doing it as a short-term protest.”
Reform UK currently holds just eight of the 650 seats in the House of Commons and it’s unclear whether it could repeat its success in a national election.
The elections produced semiautonomous administrations in Scotland and Wales led by parties devoted to independence and the breakup of the United Kingdom — though neither has that policy on the front burner.
The Scottish National Party, which has governed in Edinburgh since 2007, won another term but fell short of a majority, meaning an independence referendum is unlikely. Labour and Reform tied in a distant second place.
Plaid Cymru (The Party of Wales) won the most seats in the Cardiff-based legislature, the Senedd. The party, which has an ambition for Wales to leave the U.K. but no plan to do so anytime soon, fell short of a majority but will likely form the new government. Reform came second and Labour a distant third in one of its most historic heartlands, with outgoing First Minister Eluned Morgan losing her seat.
The economy lies at the heart of Labour’s troubles, as it does for many incumbent governments.
Since ending 14 years of Conservative rule roiled by austerity and the COVID-19 pandemic, Labour has struggled to ease the cost of living and jump-start a sluggish economy against the tough economic backdrop of war in Ukraine and, more recently, Iran. Starmer also has angered supporters with attempts to cut welfare spending, some of which were reversed after Labour revolts.
Some in Labour say the government's achievements, including protections for renters and a higher minimum wage, are going unnoticed. Many blame Starmer, an uninspiring leader distracted by scandals including his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.
But Stephen Houghton, the outgoing leader of Barnsley council in northern England, where Labour lost to Reform, said the problem “goes deeper than the prime minister.”
“This has been coming for 30 years around the country, in post-industrial communities, coastal communities, that have been left behind,” he said. “You can change prime ministers all day long. If you don’t change policy, it’s not going to change.”
The results reflect a fragmentation of U.K. politics after decades of domination by Labour and the Conservative Party, which also suffered major losses on Thursday.
The elections offered voters a rainbow of choices, including the centrist Liberal Democrats and the nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales.
But the big winners were populist insurgents, Reform UK and the Green Party, whose focus has expanded from the environment to social justice and the Palestinian cause under self-described “eco populist” leader Zack Polanski. The Greens won hundreds of council seats from Labour in urban centers and university towns and took control of several local authorities.
Tony Travers, professor of government at the London School of Economics, said the results suggest the next national election, due by 2029, won’t produce a majority for any party.
“So then you’re in the world of, after the election, two or three big minority parties trying to work out how they would govern,” he said — something traditionally considered “very un-British.”
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)
First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney with some of the newly elected SNP MSPs in Edinburgh, Saturday May 9, 2026, following the 2026 Holyrood elections. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)
Observers from the Scottish National Party (SNP) watch as votes are counted for the 2026 Holyrood elections, at Dewars Centre in Perth, Scotland, Friday May 8, 2026. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks to supporters at Chelmsford City Racecourse, Friday May 8, 2026, in Essex, England, following the 2026 local election results. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks to Labour Party members at Kingsdown Methodist Church Hall, in Ealing, west London, Friday May 8, 2026, a day after the local elections. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)
