Michener pushes his way onto U.S. Olympic bobsled team

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Sam Michener said riding in a bobsled hurtling down an icy track at 90 miles per hour feels like being in a "55-second car accident."

It's a physcially demanding sport that requires speed, strength, precision and nerve. 

Michener, 30, has been pursuing his Olympic dream in bobsled for six years and has been part of the U.S. national team for the past four. Before that, he was an Oregon state champion in the 100-and 200-meter dashes for Barlow High (2005). And he went on to become a sprinter at the University of Idaho. 

By 2012, he had entered a Nuclear Radiology program at a medical school in South Dakota. That's where he was when he called his parents to tell them he had been invited to a bobsled combine. He got to the event and found himself surrounded by about 50 former Division I athletes and even NFL wide receivers. He felt like he might be in over his head, but he finished eighth and was invited to keep training in New York. 

With little time to think, Michener put medical school on hold and began working non-stop for his Olympic dream. 

"I'll always be smart, but I won't always be fast," Michener told his parents.

A week ago, Michener learned he had finally made the U.S. Olympic team. 

The announcement came the morning after the seventh and final World Cup competition, which completed a rigorous day-by-day evaluation. 

"That's the life of an athlete," said Michener from Lake Placid, N.Y., where he and his teammates are breaking in a brand new sled that they will use at the Olympics.

"We were evaluated on every little thing, from 30-meter time trials to each individual push in every World Cup competition."

A brakeman, Michener will push for the U.S. No. 2 bobsled in Pyeongyang, South Korea next month. The sled will be piloted by Nick Cunningham, who is making his third trip to the Winter Olympics. 

Michener began making a name for himself more than a decade ago at Barlow, where he was a football player and track athlete. The school also claims 2016 OIympic shot put champion Ryan Crouser.

"It's great, two Olympics in a row where Barlow High School is being represented," Michener said. "That has to be pretty rare throughout the nation."

Michener's track career at Idaho was interrupted by a traffic accident that put him in the hospital. He was riding a motorcycle when a car slammed into him at an intersection. But after months of recovery he returned to the Vandals track team and ran faster than ever. It was a member of the school's training staff with bobsledding experience who approached Michener about giving the sport a try. His compact, muscular 5-foot-9 frame might make a good fit. 

In 2014, Michener was still somewhat new the sport. He didn't make the Olympic team but was one of a few "on-call" athletes ready to fill in if a replacement was needed in Sochi. 

Track athletes finding their way into bobsleds is, of course, nothing new. 

Lolo Jones and Lauryn Williams both represented the U.S. on the women's bobsled team in 2014 after competing in the summer games in track and field. (Williams was the first American woman to win a medal at both the Summer and Winter Games).

Chris Kinney, another member of U.S. No. 2 sled, is a former hurdler at Georgetown.

And up until last fall, the 2007 Oregon high school sprint champion and 2012 Summer Olympian Ryan Bailey, was in Michener's sled. The two have known each other since high school. 

But Bailey, the fifth-place finisher in the 2012 Olympic 100-meter final, lost his spot on the U.S. bobsled team following a controversial decision by USADA to re-litigate and impose an additional penalty for his use of an unauthorized supplement in early 2017. His six-month ban, handed down in July, was completed before he competed in World Cup events last fall. But in Decmeber the ban was extended to two years. 

"(After the decision came down) all of a sudden he was just gone," Michener said of Bailey. "It was a blow. We had months of training together and building chemistry. It was tough. He's a talented athlete."

The team has readjusted and is preparing to become a quality podium contender with a slightly revamped lineup. 

As a bobsled pusher and brakeman, Michener's training has moved away from track and field. 

Michener ran a PR of 10.59 in college with a trimmed physique of 175 pounds. 

Now, he weighs about 205 pounds and might get out of breath sprinting for a full 100 meters.

"Weightlifters who sprint is the bobsledder body type," Michener said. "Quick bursts. Twenty-five to 30 meters is all we have to push a sled."

The brakeman serves as the team captain on a four-man crew. He calls out the cadence off the starting line. While his teammates push with their heads down, Michener's is up. He pushes the longest, hops in the sled last, and pulls the pushbars in from the right and left sides of the sled.

For less than minute of "organized chaos," the four athletes in the sled assume practiced positions designed to maximize aerodynamics. 

And after 20 or so turns, it's Michener's job to grab the brakes and slow the sled after it crosses the finish line.

"Sometimes it takes a football field and half to brake (to a complete stop)," Michener said. "At Lake Placid we have 20 corners, so it's one and a half Mississippi to pull the brake as hard as I can and stop this sucker."

Michener grew up in the shadow of Mt. Hood, a popular ski area and training ground. But there is no bobsled track there, or anywhere else on the West coast of the U.S. 

"(Sam) making the Olympic team is a dream come true for all of us," said Sherry Michener, who works with Special Education students at Barlow. 

Michener's six-year pursuit of the Olympic Games caused him to move to Colorado Springs, Colo., and to travel to training camps and competitions around the world. 

On Wednesday, the U.S. bobsled team will relocate to Calgary, Canada for training and preparation. The Opening Ceremonies in South Korea are Feb. 9 and the four-man bobsled competition is Feb. 23-24. 

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Michener's parents, Steve and Sherry Michener, defray some of the costs of making the trip to South Korea.