Page 22 - ARUBA TODAY

A22 SPORTS
Monday 8 May 2017

U.S. bobsledder Steven Holcomb, 37, found dead

TIM REYNOLDS Olympic Committee a failed hotel-room sui-
AP Sports Writer CEO Scott Blackmun cide attempt involv-
Steven Holcomb was si- said. “Steve was a tre- ing sleeping pills in 2007
multaneously ordinary mendous athlete and which he wrote about in
and remarkable. even better person, and his autobiography, “But
America’s best bob- his perseverance and Now I See: My Journey
sled pilot was a self-de- achievements were an from Blindness to Olym-
scribed computer geek inspiration to us all. Our pic Gold.”
who would rub elbows thoughts and prayers “After going through all
with Hollywood stars. He are with Steve’s family that and still being here,
was never exactly in the and the entire bobsled- I realized what my pur-
best of shape, yet was a ding community.” pose was,” Holcomb
world-class athlete. He Holcomb was still one of told the AP in a 2014 in-
attempted suicide years the world’s elite drivers, terview.
ago, then revealed his finishing second on the The depression, he be-
story with hopes of help- World Cup circuit in two- lieved, largely stemmed
ing others. He was a man man points and third in from his fight with a dis-
who nearly went blind, four-man points this past ease called keratoco-
then became an Olym- season. nus. Holcomb’s vision
pic gold medalist. The final victory of his degenerated to the
His life was the epitome career was last Decem- point where he was con-
of a bobsled race, filled ber in Lake Placid. He vinced that his bobsled
with twists and turns. won 60 World Cup med- career was ending, and
It came to a most unex- als in his career, 10 more his mood quickly started
pected end Saturday in at the world champion- going dark as well.
Lake Placid, New York, ships and three in the His eyesight was saved
when he was found Olympics, making him in a surgery that turned
dead in his room at the one of the most deco- his 20-500 vision into
Olympic Training Center rated pilots in the world. something close to per-
— sending shock waves In this Feb. 27, 2010, file photo, Steven Holcomb, of the United “You will be loved, fect, and his sliding ca-
through the U.S. Olympic States, poses with his gold medal in the men’s four-man bobsled missed and remem- reer simply took off from
community, and dev- during the medal ceremony at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in bered forever,” U.S. there.Winning gold with
Whistler, British Columbia.
astating those who had Associated Press women’s pilot Jamie push athletes Steve
known Holcomb for the Greubel Poser wrote on Mesler, Curt Tomasevicz
entirety of his two-de- nity.” Darrin Steele said. Twitter. and Justin Olsen at the
cade career in sliding. No cause of death Holcomb was a native of Holcomb was an Ea- Vancouver Olympics
The three-time Olympi- was immediately an- Park City, Utah, and his gle Scout and served turned Holcomb into a
an, three-time Olympic nounced. However, offi- signature moment came as both a member of full-fledged star. In the
medalist and five-time cials said there were no at the 2010 Vancouver the Utah Army National months that followed,
world champion was 37. indications of foul play Games when he piloted Guard and the Army Holcomb met President
“The only reason why the after the preliminary his four-man sled to a win World Class Athlete Pro- Barack Obama, played
USA is in any conversa- parts of an ongoing in- that snapped a 62-year gram. He was cherubic, golf with Charles Bark-
tion in the sport of bob- vestigation were com- gold-medal drought for almost always happy in ley, hung out with Tom
sled is because of Steve pleted. USA Bobsled and the U.S. in bobsled’s sig- public, someone whose Cruise and Katie Holmes
Holcomb,” said U.S. Skeleton said it was be- nature race. sense of humor was well- — they were then a cou-
bobsled pilot Nick Cun- lieved Holcomb died in Holcomb also drove to known throughout the ple — visited the New
ningham, who roomed his sleep. bronze medals in both close-knit bobsled world. York Stock Exchange,
next to Holcomb in Lake An autopsy was sched- two- and four-man Teammates even spent threw the ceremonial
Placid. “He was the face uled for Sunday. Funeral events at the Sochi a season chronicling his first pitch at a Cleveland
of our team. He was the arrangements are ex- Games in 2014, and was “Holcy Dance,” a little Indians game and went
face of our sport. We pected to be finalized in expected to be part of less-than-rhythmic shuf- to the Indianapolis 500.
all emulated him. Ev- the coming days. the 2018 U.S. Olympic fle that he would do at In the bobsled world, he
ery driver in the world “USA Bobsled and Skel- team headed to the Py- each stop on the World was larger than life.
watched him, because eton is a family and right eongchang Games. Cup circuit to make fel- “We’re all still in shock,”
he was that good at now we are trying to “The entire Olympic fam- low sliders laugh. Cunningham said. “I
what he did. It’s a huge come to grips with the ily is shocked and sad- But there was also a don’t know if mourning
loss, huge loss, not just loss of our teammate, dened by the incred- troubled side, includ- will happen for a long
for our team but for the our brother and our ibly tragic loss today of ing battles with depres- time, because the shock
entire bobsled commu- friend,” federation CEO Steven Holcomb,” U.S. sion and alcohol, plus part will take a while.”q