Steve Mesler’s whirlwind, whistlestop victory tour of Buffalo ended Friday, and the closing ceremonies included a loud pep rally at the school where his athletic career took shape — City Honors School.

For one day anyway, Steve Mesler the Olympic gold-medal-winning bobsledder had to share the stage with Steve Mesler, member of the class of 1996 at City Honors.

A raucous band of students — including the Shirtless Men of City Honors who painted their chests to spell out the message “Mesler Madness” — serenaded Mesler with chants of “U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A” during the event at the school’s temporary home at East Utica Street and Masten Avenue.

They also heard all about his school exploits, including his non-gold- medal basketball prowess and the two categories he won in the senior class vote 14 years ago.

Two weeks ago, Mesler had a gold medal draped around his neck in Vancouver. This week, he got a boisterous reception at the airport, accepted the key to the city, dropped the ceremonial first puck at a Buffalo Sabres game and soaked up the atmosphere at the school assembly.

He also got a surprise at City Honors, learning about the new Steve M. Mesler ’96 Gold Medal Strength and Fitness Center scheduled to open in September at the remodeled school on North Street.

Mesler’s victory lap around the city of Buffalo this week was no surprise.

Long before he won gold, he vowed that he would return home to share the medal with others. That’s why before Mesler headed to another event at City Honors Middle School, he spent quite awhile after the pep rally posing for photos with students and staff, even allowing some of them to drape themselves in gold.

What vivid memories will Mesler take from this week?

“It’s going to be the small things, like when they named the fitness center [after me] and looking at my sister and seeing the smile on her face,” he said after the pep rally. Leigh Mesler herself was a three-sport varsity star at the school, while Steve excelled at track and field and soccer.

“We both smiled at each other, like ‘All right, that’s cool,’ ” he said. “It’s kind of a childlike wonder at the fact that that’s something that’s brand new and it’s going to be there for a long time . . . It will be a very cool thing to be able to walk into the [Mesler Center], to see the kids in it and know I can help inspire them.”

Mesler said the last week has been more fun than he thought it would be. Because of everything he

and his three teammates went through in the last four years after a disappointing seventh-place finish in Torino, nothing can make him nervous anymore.

Not standing up to accept the key to the city from Mayor Byron W. Brown. Or dropping the puck in front of 18,690 Sabres fans. Or making an impromptu speech in front of hundreds of chanting high school kids, with Principal William A. Kresse and School Superintendent James A. Williams in the house.

“The Olympics have just helped me to enjoy things more,” he said.

During his 15-minute talk, Mesler took the high school students, packed like sardines into the former School 8 auditorium, to the starting line at the top of the bobsled course for the final run two weeks ago.

Mesler and his three sled-mates — driver Steve Holcomb, Justin Olsen and Curt Tomasevicz — had become family. After all they’d been through, there wasn’t much to say before their last push for gold.

“It’s so vivid in my mind,” he told the students. “I looked around. I looked at the family I had, and everything was fine. All the nerves went away. All the butterflies went away.”

Mesler left the students with a lesson, one that may have been reinforced by his having been cut from the City Honors basketball team.

“Don’t be afraid to fail,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to put yourselves out there, whether it’s studying as hard as you can for a test because you want to ace it, . . . or if it’s going out and trying out for a team.”

The event was part pep rally, part Mesler roast.

Former teacher James F. Duggan paid tribute to Steve and Leigh Mesler, crediting the influence of their parents, Ben and Lois, both of whom have been teachers. Duggan also regaled the crowd with the results of Mesler’s 1996 senior poll. Classmates voted him one of the two seniors Most Likely to Appear on a Box of Wheaties.

“In that same poll, Steve was voted to have the sexiest legs,” Duggan said, as the crowd roared. “I’m not quite sure how accurate that description was.”

Mesler got his own shots in later, when asked in an interview about what he’d remember most from his day back in school.

“Unfortunately,” he quipped, “I’m going to remember the Shirtless Brigade.”