PARK CITY, UT- Team USA bobsled athlete Geoffrey Gadbois is chasing a huge goal: qualifying for the Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy. In an interview, he explained the hard work, sacrifice, and money it takes to try and make that dream come true.
Gadbois said that the Olympic journey starts at the very beginning of the bobsled season with something called Push Champs. This is where athletes race to prove how fast they can push the sled.
“At the start of the bobsled season, we do this thing called Push Champs,” Gadbois said. “Basically, that states who is fast enough to push the bobs (bobsleds) to make the three teams, because Team USA has three teams for bobsled: team one, team two, and team three. Team one and two get funded. I’m on team three. So we have to fund ourselves.”
After Push Champs, the athletes find out which sled they are on and then start working together as a team.
“The next step is we get our teams together and start training together, we start getting ready for the season,” he said.
This season, their first World Cup race was in Cortina, Italy, the same place where the Olympics will be held.
“Our first World Cup was in Cortina, where the Olympics are gonna be, and this year,” Gadbois explained. “We just got done with our World Cup.”
For their first time on that track, Gadbois said they were proud of how they did, even if it wasn’t exactly what they hoped for.
“We did pretty good,” he said. “We placed 26th and not where we wanted to be, but for the first time on that track, learning the track.”
One of the biggest challenges for Gadbois and his teammates is money. Since team three does not get funded like teams one and two, they have to raise their own money to keep competing.
“Funding the bobsled team is going good,” he said. “We’ve raised $50,000 out of the $120,000 that we need to go to the Olympics, and we still have a pretty long time to raise it.”
When asked what it takes to become an Olympian, Gadbois said it’s not just about talent.
“You need to be physically fit, you need to want it more than anything,” he said. “You gotta want to give up your family, your job, and your personal life.”
He also had strong advice for anyone who dreams about making the Olympics one day.
“They have to work harder than everybody else,” Gadbois said. “And be the best at what they do. ’Cause if they don’t, they’re not gonna make it.”
