How Olympic hopefuls found a home on the sliding track after transitioning from other sports

Del Duca always had watched bobsled at the Olympics, and always thought it was cool. But without a collegiate bobsled circuit, he thought no more of it. (Currently there are two youth training programs for bobsled and skeleton in the U.S., one in Park City, UT, and one in Lake Placid, NY.) Instead, after a successful high school career as a ski racer, during which he won the title of state champion in Maine, he competed in track and field as a sprinter and long jumper. 

But then he found out about recruitment combines held in Lake Placid, and along with a friend from college, he tried it out, training while helping his father open a restaurant after college.

I dove in headfirst and I’m still here, ten years later.

Frank Del Duca

Like Del Duca, Olympian skeleton slider, Kelly Curtis, first learned about the bobsled combine while competing in track and field at college. Athletics were in her blood – her father, John Curtis, played in the NFL – and growing up, the Olympics were a must-watch. Her coach, Dan Jaffe, saw her particular brand of explosive energy and was reminded of alumna Erin Pac, a 2010 Vancouver Games bobsled bronze medalist, suggesting Curtis try out.