By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
When Jamie Greubel graduated from The Hun School in 2002, it was the Summer Olympics that seemed like a far off dream for the track star.
Now it’s the Winter Olympics that could be a reality.
Greubel was one of the final three cuts for the U.S. women’s bobsledding team that competed in Vancouver over the previous two weeks, but she is already in training for a shot at Sochi 2014.
”It is surprising, but it’s really exciting at the same time,” Greubel said. “Even though I haven’t been specifically training for bobsled the last 15 years, all the athletic things and accomplishments I’ve had, they’ve been building me up for this. Even though I didn’t know this was the path I was going to take, I’ve set myself well for it.”
Greubel left Hun for Cornell University, where she showcased her athleticism by playing field hockey before developing into the school record holder in the multi-event pentathlon and heptathlon in track and field. She was one of only two three-time heptathlon champions at the Outdoor Heptagonals and holds the meet record with 5,465 points. She also was the 2006 Indoor Heptagonals champion.
It was a former Big Red track and field teammate that suggested that Greubel try bobsledding, a sport that relies on powerful, fast athletes to generate the speed off the start before hurtling down an icy track at speeds nearing 100 miles per hour.
”At first, it’s kind of scary,” Greubel admitted. “There’s nothing that can prepare you for what you feel going down the track.”
Greubel had been out of breath before after sprinting up and down the field hockey field or around the track, but she wasn’t prepared to feel the same way even after just sitting in a sled for a minute.
”It doesn’t feel like a roller coaster,” she said. “It’s hard to explain. Sitting in the front and back are two completely different things. When you’re in the back, there’s a lot of pressure. You sit folded in half. It’s way different than anything I’ve done before.”
It was different from the very start.
”When I first came out for the team, they said, ‘It’s nice that you’re fast, but go put on 20 pounds,’” Greubel said. “We have certain weight limits. There’s a minimum weight and maximum weight you can weigh. You want people pushing the sled to be heavier.
”Most of the girls, we weigh between 165 and 185. Most women would never want to talk about their weight. We talk about it all the time.”
Bobsledding has become Greubel’s life. She lives in Lake Placid at the training center and trains with the U.S. team daily for more than six months of the year. The rest of the year she spends trying to finance her training for a sport that can be unforgiving.
”It’s not a sport for everyone,” Greubel said. “It’s pretty intense. Crashes hurt. When you’re sliding on your head at 70 miles per hour, it hurts.”
Greubel has put everything on hold for her shot at an Olympic spot in the two-man bobsled. She babysits, waits tables and tends bar in the tourist destination. She is still relatively new to the sport.
”This is my second full year,” Greubel said. “My first year when I came to try it out, I didn’t do the whole team selection process. I was in grad school. Last year was my first full season on the team.”
Greubel didn’t take long to catch up. She won fourth in the Park City America’s Cup and won the Lake Placid America’s Cup. She was sixth at the 2009 U.S. National Bobsled Push Championships. It wasn’t enough, though, to get the Newton, Pa. native selected to the Olympic team — this year.
”I was one of the top brakeman, but it didn’t work out for me this year,” Greubel said. “I got to do one race on World Cup, and I got to slide with Erin Pac, who got bronze (at Vancouver). It’s crazy. We have one of the deepest teams. I might have been the No. 6 brakeman in the U.S, but I could have been the No. 1 in another country.
”We have such a deep field of athletes. We’re all really good athletes. Any of the six of us could have given a deep push at the Olympics.”
Instead, Greubel spent the last two weeks watching the Olympics on TV, one part fascination and one part motivation.
”It’s so exciting,” she said. “In Beijing, that was the first time I knew someone in the trials. This is the first time I know someone in the Olympics. I know someone from almost every sport. And to watch my teammates, that’s so exciting.”
Greubel wants to be the one that everyone is watching at the next Olympics. If she makes it, it will be in a more visible role than brakeman.
”I’m switching to driving now,” Greubel said. “When you become a driver, there’s a lot more responsibility financially and as an athlete in the sport. You’re in charge of your equipment. You’re funding yourself and your team there. Every day when you go to practice, it’s all about you getting the sled down the track.
”The brakemen get to take a break. You’re the one that has to be mentally on top of your game every day. As a driver, you’re in charge of the safety of the person behind you. You have to make the right decisions about what runners to pick on race day. As a driver, you’re the one that gets ranked.”
Transitioning over four years into an Olympic spot is not unprecedented, and Greubel takes confidence from one of her teammate’s stories this year.
”Erin Pac, who won the bronze medal, she was a brakeman in 2006 and didn’t make the Games,” Greubel said. “Four years later, she has a bronze medal.”
Pac, too, was a former collegiate heptathlete. Jamie Greubel would like to follow the same path. It’s a long way from Hun, and a lot different from what she ever expected, but she has never been more determined.
”In four years, I want to be in Russia,” Greubel said. “Everything I do now is for bobsled.”
