Olympic Dream

Hello!

My name is Kristen Hurley, and I have an Olympic Dream. While running track in college, I was watching the winter Olympics and saw two of the coolest winter sports ever-bobsled and skeleton. I was familiar with the sports, but thought that people grew up doing them from a young age (which I didn't). Turns out, thats not the case! Most American bobsled and skeleton athletes begin after college and crossover from another sport, most commonly track and field, like me!

I decided on a whim to go to a tryout, and did pretty well! Last year, I continued to progress through the steps in the tryout process, and made the  National Bobsled team!

I loved being a bobsled brakeman. I got tons of experience, had a lot of fun, and got to travel the world. However, from the start I knew that I wanted to have more control over the outcome of the race (as a brakeman, your biggest impact is on the push start of the race, which is very important, but after that the results are in the driver's hands. My plan was to either transition to being a bobsled pilot, or switch to the closely linked sport of skeleton.

After getting second place in USA Skeleton push championships this summer as the only rookie in the competition, I decided to go with skeleton. The fast-paced headfirst sliding sport is an adrenaline rush for sure, and I think that I have the potential to become one of the best-- partly because of the advantage I will have at the start, and partly because of my work ethic. 

The only thing left to complete a winning equation in skeleton is the equipment. Like any racing sport, the equipment you are on is a huge factor in your success- I could have the fastest push start and develop my driving skill to be one of the best in the world, but if I am on a slow sled I will lose time down the track and won't be able to compete.

Thank you for considering how you can help me reach my dream of competing for Team USA at the Winter Olympics!