Grady Mercer—Team USA Bobsled Pilot

My name is Grady Mercer and I am a member of Team USA as a bobsled pilot. I have competed for Team USA for the past 2 years and have earned the right to compete for a spot on the 2026 Olympic team to be held in Cortina, Italy this coming February. The greater the opportunity, the greater the expense. One thing most people don’t know about trying to qualify for the Olympics is that I am fully self-funded at these beginning stages of my career. So in the offseason (now), I am working 45+ hours a week all while lifting weights and doing sprint drills 6 days a week to better my athletic abilities to save money for the season. This year, the costs associated with training and competition will be much higher. As an athlete for USA Bobsled, I am financially responsible for:

-All of my flights(close to 10 flights per season, some international)

-rental trucks to haul sleds to and from the track (3-4 truck rentals for 2-3 weeks at a time)

-gas to fill up the rental truck

- lodging for when I’m out on tour

-all of my food on tour

Being the pilot (I drive the sled), I am the head of the team, making me also responsible for:

-sled rental (2man and 4man sleds)

-when out of America, I am responsible for paying for ice time

-sled shipment from track to track

My family and I have always welcomed prayers and well wishes but have also had a lot of people ask how they could financially help. So we created this GoFundMe for anyone who would like to be a part of my journey in that way. As always, thank you for your support!