Olympian To Receive Special Welcome In Sparta

SPARTA, NJ — A celebration is planned in Sparta on Friday to welcome Sarah Escobar home, as she returns from the 2022 Winter Olympics in China.

Residents are encouraged to make signs and bring them to Sparta’s Municipal Building lawn at 4:45 p.m., when the event is planned. The event time on Friday in Sparta could change, should Escobar's flight be delayed, according to a post on Sparta Councilman Josh Hertzberg’s Facebook page.

Escobar, 19, was the first female Alpine skier on Ecuador’s team, as well as its first female flag bearer in the Winter Olympics, according to a news release from Saint Michael’s College in Vermont, where she is a student, expecting to graduate in 2025.

She competed as Ecuador’s first female Winter Olympian in the Giant Slalom on Monday. Escobar graduated from Sparta High School in 2021 and holds dual citizenship, with Ecuador the country her parents were originally from.

"The objective is to welcome Sarah home in true Spartan Style — showing her just how proud we are of all that she has accomplished," Councilwoman Christine Quinn wrote in an emailed statement to Patch on Thursday night.

Quinn said that the welcome for Escobar is expected to include a police escort on Route 15 from Jefferson into Sparta, with banners to greet her along the way.

"We are so proud of all that she has accomplished," Quinn said. "Her story is truly inspirational and it's my sincere hope that, in coming months, she has the opportunity to share it with our community — most specifically with the students within our community that also have a big dream...and are able to make that dream come true."

Watch the video below of Escobar as she encourages viewers about the importance of following their dreams:

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