Hi everyone!
My name is Sam Allred! I’m from Dallas, Texas and I’m training for a spot in the 2026 Olympic Games in Cortina, Italy.
My path to skeleton began with football! I was a walk-on free safety at Brigham Young University. I didn’t make it onto the team until my senior year, and when I graduated, I knew I wanted to keep going with sport.
Every day when training, I’d look up at the Olympic Rings posted above the doors of the gym, and tell myself “I’m training for the Olympics” even though I didn’t know what sport it would be for.
I’d seen Cool Runnings, and knew that bobsledders had to be strong and fast. After emailing and emailing the coaches, they had me do an online combine which led to a rookie camp in Lake Placid!
Turns out, I wasn’t much of a bobsledder. But they told me with my long arms and legs I should push a skeleton sled. It immediately felt like home.
I had no idea that a sport could capture my heart as completely as Skeleton did. When you’re low to the ice, flowing with the track, hitting 80 miles per hour plus… I just felt peace. Which was weird because I’d never considered myself an adrenaline junkie by any means!
In the last three years, I’ve represented USA in over 20 races at 8 tracks in 7 different countries across North America and Europe.
The hardest part of the journey is finding a way to pay for it. Our federation does what they can to cover equipment costs and a couple flights per season, but 90% of the cost falls on the athletes.
I’d always thought Team USA athletes were swimming in endorsement deals and money, but my teammates and I are all as broke as can be. We train full time year round, without a paycheck, working odd jobs in the evenings to try to cover the cost of the upcoming season. Each year, we sink deeper and deeper into debt trying to finance the Olympic dream.
Most athletes quit years before they’ve reached their full potential simply because there’s no way to make it make sense financially. In a way, that’s part of the thrill of sports: they demand everything from you, and promise nothing but the journey in return. You have to really really really love what you’re doing.
Thankfully, I do! This season is Olympic Year. At this moment, I can’t afford to make it through the season and am on my last credit card.
Your help in any form (donating, sharing this Go Fund Me, or even just following the journey online and reminding me I’m not crazy) goes such a long way. It is impossible to do what we do without the support of family, friends, and donors.
I promise to honor your contributions in my heart, and involve you in this journey however I can. A phone call after a race? A sticker on the sled? You name it, I’m game! Whatever would be meaningful to you.
At the end of the day there’s no real way to thank you properly for helping me reach this dream - other than to promise you it has changed my life, and promise you I will pay it forward forever.
Sincerely,
Sam Allred