Riding the Ice at 80 Miles an Hour
In Olympics' Bobsleigh Competition, U.S. Women Should Shine

Dec. 20, 2001 -- This week near Park City, Utah, a dozen women will race for the right to represent the United States in the first-ever Olympic competition in women's bobsleigh. American women -- ranked among the best bobsledders in the world -- are expected to do well in the event's Olympic premier. For Morning Edition, in the first of a series of reports previewing the 2002 Olympics, NPR's Howard Berkes focuses on the women's bobsleigh contenders.

When Bonny Warner isn't piloting bobsleds, she flies a 737 for United Airlines. Photo: Mick Mazuka - United Airlines Creative Services

Driver Bonny Warner and brakeman Vonetta Flowers at the bobsled start. Photo: Courtesy DK Publishing Inc.

One of the women, Bonny Warner, spent three previous Olympics "sliding down icy, snake-like flumes, face-up and feet first, on a skimpy luge sled," Berkes reports. "But she never won a medal." Now, Warner is 39, mother of a three-year-old and flies 737s for a living. She's taking one more shot at an Olympic medal, Berkes says -- but this time, she's "face-first and crouched, in the sleek red fiberglass of a U.S.A. bobsled."

In Warner's view, "women have finally reached some equality here within the Olympic movement if we can crack into the male bastion of bobsled. I always tell people when I'm flying, the airplane doesn't know if it's a male or female at the controls. And neither does a bobsled. "

At the trials, driver Warner will share the bobsled with brakeman Bethany Hart; but a recent training paired with brakeman Kristi McGihon. Clad in spiked shoes, skin-tight Lycra and helmets, the two launched the bobsled downhill; in less than a minute on the ice, shooting out of one banked turn and into another, they approached 80 miles an hour.

"I think the original resistance with bobsled was that men thought women couldn't handle it," Warner tells Berkes. "But obviously, we've proved them wrong."

American bobsledder Jean Racine also switched from luge and ranks with Warner among the top three American drivers, and the top six in the world. The third American on those lists is Jill Bakken, a bobsled pioneer who's been sliding seven years. But only two drivers will get to slide for the U.S. Olympic team, because Olympic rules limit each nation to two women's sleds. "Somebody's going to be left behind," says Warner, "and that's the only sad thing. The good thing is, we train with the best in the world every day."



Other Resources

• Bonny Warner talks about bobsledders' pre-race preparations in a brief video. Click on the official Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics Sports link, then click on "bobsleigh" from the list of boxed choices on the page. You'll find the video link on that page under the "Athlete's Voice" listings.

• Read a profile of bobsledder Jean Racine. Click on the official Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics Main Page link and scroll down to the section marked "Athlete Bios."

• View a schedule of events at the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics.