Seven Soldiers will compete in bobsled, luge in 2018 Winter Olympics

February 1, 2018 Michael US 0

Soldier/Olympians — Former U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program bobsledder Steven Holcomb (front right) leads "The Night Train" team of Sgt. Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curtis Tomasevicz to a start time of 4.77 seconds in the third heat of the Olympic four-man bobsled event. The quartet won an Olympic gold medal in bobsleigh for Team USA for the first time in 62 years at the Whistler Sliding Center on Saturday. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo by Tim Hipps, IMCOM Public Affairs)

SAN ANTONIO — Seven Soldiers will be among the other athletes representing the United States Feb. 9-25, in the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Returning in bobsled will be 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist Sgt. Justin Olsen from San Antonio, Texas; 2014 Olympic Bronze Medalist Cpt. Chris Fogt from Alpine, Utah; and 2010 and 2014 Olympic team member Sgt. Nick Cunningham from Monterey, California, who are all part of the U.S. Army Installation Management Command’s World Class Athlete Program. Olsen and Cunningham are members of the New York National Guard. They will be joined by Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Weber, of the 10th Special Forces, from Pueblo West, Colorado.

Sgt. Emily Sweeney from Suffield, Connecticut, and Sgt. Taylor Morris from South Jordan, Utah, will complete in singles luge, along with Sgt. Matthew Mortensen from Huntington Station, New York, who is competing in the doubles luge event. They are also Soldier-athletes in WCAP who have made the U.S. Olympic Team.

The Soldiers’ participation in the Olympics is a testament to their enduring resilience and the Army’s commitment to teamwork, determination and perseverance, and the nation encourages the world to follow and share their progress in social media using #SoldierOlympians.

Opening Ceremonies for these Winter Olympics are scheduled for Feb. 9, and luge events run Feb. 10-15. Bobsled competitions are scheduled to run Feb. 18-24, all to be broadcast by the National Broadcasting Company through NBC News and NBC Sports.

The WCAP program is composed of national and international caliber Soldiers who have been recognized in their sport, and who maximize and embody high performance agility, mental preparedness and physical strength. These Soldier-Olympians connect Americans with the Army and show that they are more than just war-fighters.

Other Soldiers are in contention to coach these Olympians on Team USA.
Information on these coaches and athletes can be found at http://www.ArmyMWR.com/Olympic and in social media at http://www.Facebook.com/FamilyMWR and http://www.Twitter.com/FamilyMWR.

Source: ARMY