The US Olympic team may be winning medals in Italy right now, but 87-year-old Conrad Andringa is winning all the hearts.
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Andringa is one of the many fans who visited the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. Like everyone else, he had a particular athlete he was rooting for. In his case, it was his grandson Jesse’s girlfriend, US mogul skier Tess Johnson. And no one questioned who he was cheering for.
While he stood on the sidelines, the proud grandfather was wearing a hat that donned her name, which Jesse had hand-knit for him. He also wore a matching scarf and mittens. And while he was dressed up and representing Johnson, he shared a little video message with his family chat. It then went viral for millions after Heidi Andringa shared it with her cousins.
“Go, Tess! I said, GO TESS!” he cheered in the video. “That’s what we’re here for—because Tess is skiing today. And we want her to become a member of the family legitimately!”
This Isn’t The Proud Grandfather’s First Trip to the Olympics
According to People, Conrad Andringa is an avid sports fan who always makes it a point to support his 12 grandchildren during all their hockey and soccer games, and he made it to the World Cup mogul events in Deer Valley, Utah, to watch Heidi’s brothers compete for eight years straight. One of his grandsons also competed in the 2018 Olympics. And of course, he couldn’t miss that either. And as he shared in the video, Tess is just as important to him as a blood relative.
“The pleasure and the thrill of seeing someone I care about who has worked so hard and learned so much to be at the level she has hoped to compete at, the Olympics, which is the ultimate level, is great,” he said.
Tess Johnson ended up with a 5th in the women’s dual moguls event.
This story’s featured image is by Jeff PACHOUD / AFP via Getty Images.
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