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Todd Hays: Bobsled Driver Never Dreamed of Olympics
Todd Hayes has been the top U.S. bobsleigh driver over the past three seasons. He's a big strong guy from Texas, who says he never dreamed of being in the Winter Olympics.
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(Jan. 26, 2002)------Todd Hays finished fourth in last season's World Cup Standings in the four man, and eight in the two man. Shelley Osterloh introduces us.
Todd may be America's best bobsled driver, but back in 1994, what he wanted to do was play football.
His older brother heard that the U.S. Bobsled team was recruiting in San Antonio, Texas, near their hometown of Del Rio.
SO HE WOKE ME UP, AND BIG BROTHER DRUG ME UP THERE AND I WENT, THINKING I WAS JUST GONNA HAVE SOME FUN TODAY. AND ONE THING LED TO ANOTHER AND TWO MONTHS LATER I WAS IN CANADA IN MY FIRST WORLD CUP RACE. AND THE REST IS HISTORY.
Hays says it didn't take long for him to realize that he wanted to drive the sled, not push it.
But this is a team sport, and at world Championships last year, one of his pushers fell.
I THINK WE WOULD HAVE MEDALED. HE SLIPPED AND FELL OFF. IT WAS ALMOST A BLESSING IN DISGUISE. WE KNOW NOW THAT GOAL IS ATTAINABLE. WE HAVE TO STAY ON THE SLED, GET A LITTLE BETTER PHYSICALLY AND PUT FOUR CONSISTENT TRIPS IN. AND WHEN YOU DO THAT, YOU TAKE CARE OF THE LITTLE DETAILS, GREAT THINGS WILL HAPPEN.
And that is precisely what Hays expects, something great to happen.
Perhaps to end the United State's 46 year drought in the Olympic Bobsled.
IN ORDER TO BE GREAT YOU HAVE TO OVERCOME GREAT OBSTACLES.
And Todd Hays has has overcome a lot. As a kid he grew up in a rough neighborhood, so he studied martial arts to protect himself. He actually competed in Kick Boxing and other fighting tournaments after college.
He used the 10-thousand dollar winnings from his last
tournament, to buy his first bobsled.
