 |
 |
|
Bonny Warner and Vonnetta Flowers
The team of Bonny Warner and Vonnetta Flowers is currently number three in the USA, but pushing close behind their teammates and likely to qualify for the 2002 games. Shelley Osterloh reports.
|
(Nov. 10, 2001)------ You know they call the driver of the bobsled, the pilot, in the case of Bonny Warner... that couldn't be more true.
To drive a 300 pound bobsled down a tunnel of ice at 90 miles an hour requires nerves of steel and lightening quick reactions.
Bonny Warner has both. And she is as comfortable behind the controls of a bobsled as she is a 727 jetliner.
Bonny Warner/Bobsled Pilot: "WELL, I'M A PILOT FOR UNITED AIRLINES, AND I ACTUALLY FLY IN AND OUT OF SALT LAKE A LOT FROM L.A., SAN FRANCISCO."
Even her sled bears the name of the Pilots' Association which helps to sponsor her.
Warner had taken a leave of absence from flying, until after the September 11th attack, when she once again put on her uniform and reported for work.
Bonny Warner/Bobsled Pilot: "IT ALSO OCCURRED TO ME THAT BECAUSE I'M A BLONDE-HAIRED, BLUE-EYED MOTHER OF A THREE YEAR OLD, PERHAPS THE AMERICAN PUBLIC WOULD REALIZE THAT IF I'M OUT FLYING WHEN I DIDN'T HAVE TO BE, THAT MAYBE I COULD SEND A MESSAGE THAT IT REALLY IS SAFE TO FLY."
Warner is the senior citizen of the team at 39 years old. She juggles training with a career, husband and daughter Katie.
But as a bobsled driver, she says, it's experience that counts.
Warner was a three-time Olympian in Luge before she crossed over to Bobsled.
Bonny Warner/Bobsled Pilot: "LUGE ATHLETES TEND TO BE VERY PRECISE IN A BOBSLED. IT'S SORT OF LIKE LEARNING TO DRIVE IN A SMALL CAR VERSUS A MAC TRUCK."
Teammate Vonetta Flowers was personally picked by Warner.
Vonetta Flowers/Bobsled Brakeperson: "STARTED RUNNING TRACK WHEN I WAS 10 YEARS OLD, AND DID REALLY WELL IN HIGH SCHOOL AND WAS ABLE TO GET A FULL SCHOLARSHIP TO GO TO U.A.B COMPETING IN THE OLYMPIC TRIALS IN '96 AND 2000. THAT'S WHERE I MET BONNIE. SHE WAS RECRUITING TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES, AND THAT'S HOW WE HOOKED UP."
Flowers was a seven-time all American track and field athlete at the University of Alabama, with just the right stuff to be a bobsled brakeperson.
Vonetta Flowers/Bobsled Brakeperson: "WELL THE RUNNING PART IS EASY. ADJUSTING TO THE COLD WEATHER AND PUSHING A HEAVY SLED WAS THE HARDEST PART. BUT I WORKED REALLY HARD OVER THE SUMMER TO GET STRONGER, SO IT'S GETTING BETTER."
So these two athletes from different sports have teamed up for one Olympic dream.
Warner: "BIG MEDAL... OF A GOLD COLOR."
Flowers: "GOLD WOULD BE GREAT."
