Our military may be involved in helping the Russians make the Winter Olympics Games at Sochi safe, but they certainly will be participating in them and, hopefully, will be bringing home the gold.
For those who are interested in what our military do — especially in the field of sports — I’ll be updating this story frequently. Just look for the lead image above (courtesy DOD).
Five U.S. Army soldiers have earned spots on the U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team that will compete at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
As we hear of more U.S. military athletes participating in Sochi, we’ll write about them.
For now, here is the story of these five soldiers as written by Tim Hipps at the U.S. Army Installation Management Command:
Capt. Chris Fogt, Sgt. Justin Olsen, Sgt. Nick Cunningham, Sgt. Dallas Robinson and Team USA assistant coach 1st Lt. Michael Kohn will represent the U.S. Army in Russia. With the exception of Robinson, everyone in the group has previously competed in the Olympics.
They will be joined by former WCAP, bobsledder Steven Holcomb, the reigning Olympic champion driver in the four-man event. Therefore, the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program had a hand in helping to produce about half of the U.S. Olympic men’s bobsled squad.
Holcomb, who spent seven years in WCAP, will drive USA-1 with brakeman Fogt and civilians Curt Tomasevicz and Steve Langton aboard. Holcomb also will drive USA-1 in the two-man event.
Sgt. Nick Cunningham of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program jumps into the sled to drive Olympic gold medalist and WCAP teammate Sgt. Justin Olsen, Johnny Quinn and Abe Morlu to 16th place in the four-man bobsled event at the International Bobsled & Skeleton Federation’s 2013 World Cup stop, Dec. 7, 2013, at Utah Olympic Park in Park City, Utah. U.S. Army photo by Tim Hipps
Cunningham will drive USA-2 with WCAP teammates Olsen, Robinson and civilian Johnny Quinn aboard. Olsen was a member of Holcomb’s four-man squad that struck gold at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Whistler, British Columbia.
Team USA I four-man bobsled Olympic gold medalists Curtis Tomasevicz, Steve Mesler, Justin Olsen and former U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program driver Steven Holcomb salute their gold-medal performance during the medal ceremony during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games at Whistler Medals Plaza in Whistler, B.C., Canada. Russia. U.S. Army photo by Tim Hipps.
Cunningham and Corey Butner also will pilot U.S. sleds in the two-man event. The two-man bobsled brakemen will be selected from the pool of six push athletes named to the four-man squads.
A number of components were considered when selecting the 2014 U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team push athletes, including combine test and U.S. National Push Championship results, U.S. National Team Trials finishes, driver input, proven international experience with a history of results and team combinations working well together, trend of push times, start rank and velocity, and current season results.
Nations were allocated Olympic quotas based on rank in international points following seven competitions during the 2013-2014 season. The United States was one of three nations that qualified to enter the maximum of three teams in men’s two-man bobsled competition, and one of only two nations to qualify the maximum of three sleds in the women’s race. The United States was not one of the top three nations in four-man bobsled standings and is limited to two crews.
The Olympic bobsled events are scheduled for a four-heat format over two days of racing. The men’s two-man bobsled competition is slated for Feb. 16-17, followed by women’s bobsled Feb. 18-19. The men’s four-man bobsled competition will be one of the last events of the Olympic Games, set for Feb. 22-23.
