Olympian Sarah Escobar Welcomed 'Spartan Style': Pictures

SPARTA, NJ — About 100 residents welcomed Olympian Sarah Escobar back to Sparta, after she returned from competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics in China.

Escobar, 19, is a 2021 Sparta High School graduate, who competed in the Olympics as Ecuador’s first female Alpine skier and its first female flag bearer. Currently a student at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont, expected to graduate in 2025, she competed in the Giant Slalom on Feb. 7. Escobar holds dual citizenship, her parents originally from Ecuador.

She received a welcome “in true Spartan Style,” Councilwoman Christine Quinn previously told Patch.

Melissa Fagersten, who was part of organizing the homecoming event — her daughter a friend of Escobar’s — told Patch in an email statement on Monday that Escobar spent time speaking to all of the people who came to see her, as well as pose for photos with them.

Fagersten said a banner was draped over a Route 15 North overpass for the day. Sparta police escorted Escobar from the park and ride on Blue Heron Road to the municipal building, which was aglow with the same colors as Ecuador’s flag. Members of the police and fire departments were also there when she arrived, Fagersten said.

“I am a firm believer in ‘if you can see it you can be it,’ so I wanted to make Sarah feel her hometown support, while also showing the younger kids that anything is possible,” Fagersten said.

Councilman Joshua Hertzberg posted about Escobar’s return on his Facebook page on Friday, describing the moment as “Sparta proud.”

“A perfect example of no dream is too big if you’re willing to put the work in,” Hertzberg wrote.

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