At first glance, the sport of bobsledding conjures images of men and women clad in skin-tight suits seemingly throwing all caution to the wind as they careen down an icy track. But the sport goes much deeper and incorporates industries and teams that extend beyond the men's and women's bobsled teams snuggled tightly in an aerodynamic sled.
The sport of bobsledding and its partner in the
United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation (USBSF), skeleton, are experiencing a wave of success that dwarfs the last 50 years. The four-man bobsled team, led by driver Steven Holcomb, took gold at the 2009 World Championships. Katie Uhlaender was the 2007-2008 skeleton World Cup Champion and, with Holcomb, lead the USA “sliding” team with the potential to medal in all five disciplines: two- and four-man bobsled, four-woman bobsled and men's and women's skeleton.
At the helm of this resurgence sits EIU alumnus and Hall of Fame member, several-time Olympian and past National Guard member Darrin Steele. Actually, sitting is probably the one thing Steele doesn't do much of as the CEO of USBSF.
Since graduating with an EIU masters degree in Economics in 1993, Steele continued training with the same fervor and fundamentally-sound focus that he developed under the tutelage of EIU Track & Field Coach Neil Moore. He joined the US Army National Guard's World Class Athlete program, which he would be a participant of for the next 14 years, and moved to California to train for the 1996 Olympic Games at the University of California Berkeley.
A track and field Olympian Steele would not become after failing to make the team in '96, but did happen upon a bobsled athlete named Bill Tavares. Tavares was a Luge Olympian who tried unsuccessfully to make the bobsled Olympic team as a pilot. He, like Steele, was also a member of the National Guard.
Steele followed Tavares' advice and trained as a bobsled pusher making both the 1998 (finishing 12th in the four-man) and 2002 (finishing 9th in the two-man) winter Olympic teams. In 2002, he met Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli, a great supporter of Olympic athletes and hopefuls. Upon Nardelli's urging, Steele joined Home Depot's Business Leadership Program which led to his managing stores in California from 2003-06 and then a call center from 2006-07. He concurrently earned his MBA from Berkeley.
After the 2006 Winter Olympics, the USBSF underwent a restructuring and, craving new leadership, contacted Steele regarding applying for the CEO position. He ultimately won the job in October of 2007 and was tasked with growing the visibility and success of two sports – bobsled and skeleton – lacking the former and with the potential of drastically growing the latter.
By leveraging the partnership with the Bodine Bobsled Challenge mainstream publicity grew, attracting new sponsors like Under Armour, and new fans. Annually, NASCAR and NHRA drivers take their turn in the technologically-advanced and Team USA-exclusive bobsleds created by Bodine Engineering. Not available for purchase so as to protect the Bodine bobsled technology, the development of each 350 to 450 pound bobsled costs $40,000 to $50,000.
Steele also sees growing the talent pipeline as key. Bobsled athletes oftentimes cross-over from other sports. Pushers, which Steele was, often hail from a football or track and field background and, with proper training, can become world-class in a few years. The challenge is finding talented drivers, a role which takes five to seven years to properly develop; a long time in the life of an athlete.
By upping the coaches' education program and raising the organization's level of professionalism, significant strides are being made towards increasing the competitive life of their athletes – a task which takes an increase in resources both material and monetary.
To grow the bank of skeleton sliders, building a youth program is the secret. “Fortunately, there are a lot of crazy people out there who think sitting on a 'cafeteria tray' and sliding down a hill at 80 miles per hour sounds like fun,” Steele jokes. These athletes believe that pain is second to the rush and use that motivation to focus in an environment where success is measured in hundredths of a second and catastrophe and winning are separated the mere flick of a muscle fiber.
The 2010 Olympics' Whistler Sliding Center in Vancouver is the fastest, most potentially dangerous track ever created. It is perfect for elite athletes and even better for fans with its two-story drop after turn two and “50/50” curve 13 so named because 50% of the competitors make it through and 50% crash, instantly ending their Olympic dreams.
It is guaranteed that Steele is doing all he can to ensure just the opposite: that the dreams of the USBSF athletes are realized, that the USA medals in each of the five disciplines and that the sport is elevated beyond its current awareness. The attitude he developed at EIU is one he lives by today: anything is possible.
