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Reality sets in for Child of Light
By Doug Robinson
Deseret News columnist
Sarah Hughes moved on to ice shows and a Wheaties box. Mitt Romney returned to politics. Bode Miller raced in the World Cup. Jim Shea did the late-night shows. Sting flew to his villa in Florence.
And the Child of Light is grounded.
Was there anybody anywhere who was sorrier to see the Salt Lake Olympics finished than 13-year-old Ryne Sanborn, the kid with the lamp in the opening and closing ceremonies? "It kind of stinks," he says.
Talk about anticlimactic. Life after the fun and Games. Skating in Olympic stadium will get you phone calls from girls and an appearance on the "Today Show" and four local TV stations, a plug from Bob Costas and a worldwide audience of more than 3 billion, but it doesn't get the homework done.
A science project is due ("How a Motor Works"). There are assignments to make up in math and social studies. There are grades to bring up. His dad has grounded him and placed Play Station off limits pending further notice or until his grades have returned to their usual pre-Olympic high standards.
"I wish it wasn't over," says Ryne about the Olympics, although he could have been referring to Play Station, too. "Home is boring." Thirteen years old and now what? Life is getting back to normal for the young teen from Salt Lake City or as normal as it can be when the phone rings constantly with young girls on the other end. "It never stops," says Florence, his mother. Ryne is trying out for a baseball team, getting his schoolwork done and trying to hang out with his buddies, Doug and Dakota. Oh, and he's trying to pick up a little work.
A model and actor since he was a little boy, Ryne hasn't had work in six months. Hey, a 13-year-old's got to have some spending money, you know.
"I've been in a slump," he says.
Tommy Hilfiger says it might be interested in Ryne. They told him not to cut his hair, which he was required to grow long for the Child of Light role, until they get back to him. Ryne auditioned for a Disney movie and for an episode of "Touched by an Angel," but no one's called him back. He's doing some charity work, but that doesn't pay the Slurpee bills.
Ryne has done a wide variety of gigs over the years. Modeling for catalogs for Penny's, ZCMI, REI. Bit parts on "Touched by an Angel" and a couple of TV movies. Commercials. School plays. Radio ads.
He wound up getting the lead role in the Olympic ceremonies when his hockey team was invited to try out. After a second audition, Ryne was given the part and sworn to secrecy. Neighbors, classmates and relatives found out about it the same time everybody else did. Dakota was sitting at home in his living room watching the opening ceremonies when he blurted out, "That looks like Ryne!" Then he was sure of it. Later that night, he tried to call Ryne at home. No chance. The phone was busy for days.
The biggest crowd Ryne had ever skated in front of was the 60 or so people who gathered at his hockey games, but you wouldn't have known it. With the spotlight shining on him in front of a crowd of 60,000, he skated flawlessly.
"I came close (to falling) once — I caught an edge," he says. "But I didn't really do anything hard."
He retrieves a large white sheet from his room and unfolds it to reveal hundreds of signatures from his fellow junior high students. There is a sign in his room — ICOL (Ice Child of Light) CROSSING. The lamps that he carried in the stadium are on the mantle, and a well-used videotape of the ceremonies is in the cabinet. Memories and a little notoriety are all that's left. Ryne's friends complain that he is surrounded by kids at school. "All these people claim to be his friend now," says Dakota.
"Ryne's taken it pretty well," says Doug. "He still likes to hang out."
Ryne has his future all planned: "First, I'm going to play hockey in the Olympics and win a gold medal, then I want to be a professional hockey player."
First he's got to finish that science project.
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March 19, 2002
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