Military athletes continue services’ strong ties with USA Bobsled

USA Bobsled/Skeleton scours the American collegiate track and field scene every year, seeking potential athletes to fill its ranks.

Even something as small as strength-and-conditioning numbers can catch the organization’s attention, as Air Force Senior Airman Jasmine Jones learned while competing for Eastern Michigan University.

Yet another pipeline has become just as important to USA Bobsled: the United States military.

Just look at the roster for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics: Three of the 16 athletes are service members — Jones, Army Sgt. Frank Del Duca and Army Spc. Azaria Hill. Army Cpl. Hakeem Abdul-Saboor is one of the team’s alternates.

Starting Monday with the two-man bobsled and running through Feb. 22, military athletes will be hitting the ice at the Cortina Sliding Centre in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

Even the coaching staff has a military flair. The team’s head coach is Lt. Col. Christopher Fogt, and assisting him are Lt. Col. Garrett Hines and Sgt. 1st Class Shauna Rohbock.

USA Bobsled has become a feeder into the Army and Air Force’s World Class Athlete Programs, as current members hail the stability the programs give them while in pursuit of their Olympic dreams.

“It seems like a pretty natural fit,” Del Duca said. “Just some of the skills you learn as an athlete and in the Army or in the Air Force, they complement each other. Oftentimes, getting experience with both, they help each other.”

The connection between the two groups isn’t a recent phenomenon.

Nearly a century ago, Eddie Eagan, a World War I Army veteran, became the first Olympian to win gold in different summer and winter events when he and his teammates placed first at the Lake Placid Games in 1932 — Eagan’s only bobsled race.

He won a boxing gold in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium.

Eagan later rejoined the service with the Army Air Corps in World War II.

The second uniform isn’t lost on any of the USA Bobsled military athletes.

“I feel like when I get out there on that line, I’m not only representing myself and my family, but I’m representing my country, I’m representing my teammates, I’m representing a lot of people,” Hill said.

The trio and their teammates are hoping to add to the Americans’ long history of silverware in bobsled, and they can turn to the three in their ranks who have done it before.

Fogt, Hines and Rohbock each won silver medals in their athletic careers prior to entering the coaching arena. The organization also can bank on the experience of Tuffy Latour, a retired WCAP member who has played numerous roles as coach and administrator.

They created another avenue that strengthens the bobsled-military connection.

“I aspire to be like them,” Abdul-Saboor said. “It would be amazing if I could step into that role.”

In advance of the competition, here’s a look at each of Team USA’s members:

He’s a driver at heart.

The 34-year-old from Bethel, Maine, was a high school state champion skier, has competed in some autocross and recently got into go-kart racing.

He just can’t get enough of the feeling from being in the saddle.

Perhaps that explains how in his 11th season of bobsledding, the former University of Maine sprinter enters his second Olympic Games as the Americans’ top driver.

“For me, the act of driving is quite euphoric and calming, despite it being a violent, fast situation,” Del Duca said.

Del Duca begins his Olympic competition with the two-man bobsled Monday.

Hill and her sibling never faced any pressure from their family to join athletics.

Her mother, Denean, is a three-time medalist in the 4x400-meter relay, including a gold medal in 1984 with Hill’s aunt, Sherri Howard. And Hill’s father, Virgil, brought home silver in Olympic boxing’s middleweight division.

Naturally, the comparisons to her parents and aunt started the moment she stepped on the track. But she made her own way in the sport of bobsled, making her first Olympic appearance.

“There is that little bit of pressure that you do feel when you are doing sports, especially if it is sports that one of the parents has done before,” Hill said. “So, being able to pursue this sport of bobsled and kind of create my own path but still forge the legacy that I have with my family has been something that’s been kind of nice to have.”

The 27-year-old is competing in the two-woman bobsled with longtime friend and former UNLV track and field teammate Kaysha Love.

Jones enjoys being the team’s comic relief who can keep the stress down in camp.

One of her favorite pranks came the last time she and her bobsled teammates competed in Cortina prior to these Olympic Games. The 29-year-old snuck behind a pillar on a balcony and scared Hill, whose scream was so loud it caught the attention of others.

Still, when it comes to competition, Jones flips a switch.

“I am that goofy and silly person, but I have a knack for knowing when to turn that off and commit to my job,” Jones said. “Most people don’t know I can be serious. It’s like a secret weapon of mine where they think it’s all fun and games, but I still down in my business.”

Jones and her teammate Kaillie Humphries couldn’t be any different in terms of their Olympic journeys. The airman is in her first Olympic Games, and Humphries has won four medals, including three golds in her illustrious career.

Even though Abdul-Saboor sits in an alternate spot, he has become an asset for the team’s first-time Olympians.

Abdul-Saboor competed in the 2018 Pyeongchang and 2022 Beijing Games. The 38-year-old’s best finish was 13th place in both the two-man and four-man bobsled disciplines.

Because of his experience, his teammates have turned to him for guidance, he said.

In the meantime, Abdul-Saboor will be preparing to fill in should he be called.

“God forbid something happens to any one of them, it would be an honor to compete at the Games as well.”

previous coverage

• Aviano-based airman nets two Top-15 finishes at Olympics
• Know-Howe: Skater, soldier, Olympian and maybe a chaplain