ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Medals for athletes competing in the 2018 Winter Olympic bobsled event in Pyeongchang, South Korea, will be handed out Monday. In this year’s winter games, 16 Americans competed in the sport.
News4Jax spoke with former bobsled Olympian Rocky Lanz about what it’s like to compete on the big stage.
Lanz lives in St. Johns County and owns the Training for Warriors Beachwalk gym. From 2002-2009, he was a member of the USA bobsled team and competed in the World Cup Circuit and earned a bronze medal at the Olympic Trials.
Lanz said there’s nothing quite like competing on the Olympic stage.
“You're always nervous. You really want to represent your country well (and) everybody is shooting for a gold medal,” Lanz said. “When everybody starts chanting, ‘USA, USA,’ there is no greater feeling.”
Lanz still has ties to the USA bobsled coach and team currently and showed photos of the team practicing. He said the team has a big challenge ahead.
“It's going to be tough,” Lanz said. “I'm not going to say it's going to be easy for the guys. If they land on the podium, it will be close, but you're usually winning within a couple hundredths of a second.”
Lanz forecasts Canada doing well. He said he knows their coach because they are former teammates.
“It's going to be neck-and-neck with the Canadians,” Lanz said. “I wouldn't be surprised if Todd Hayes and his team end up on the podium as well.”
Lanz said he will be watching the games closely and rooting for USA in St. Johns County.