John Napier: Born to Bobsled

American sports fans rarely hear this from their athletes: "I was a bobsled baby. Bobsledding is what I was born to do." 

But that's a direct quote from John Napier, the 22-year old native of Schenectady, N.Y. who drove his two-man bobsled to victory at the 2009 U.S. National Championships last Sunday in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Since there are 10 artificial bobsled tracks in Europe but only two in the United States, few Americans have access to bobsled facilities, so the U.S. often recruits athletes from other sports to fill its Olympic roster. Past team members have included NFL running backs (Herschel Walker), decathletes, sprinters - even a heavyweight boxing champion (Eddie Egan).

If Napier makes it to the 2010 Vancouver Games, however, he may be an exception.

Napier has driven bobsleds since he was 8, and - thanks to his victory last week - has earned the right to drive the USA-3 sled at the rest of the World Cup events this season. He is also expected to compete at the 2009 World Championships (if the U.S .qualifies three sleds), which will also be held at Lake Placid, Feb. 21- Mar. 3.

Although Napier is currently the youngest driver on the US men's World Cup team, he comes with 14 years of driving experience.

"If you look at years spent on the ice and sliding time, John's our veteran," said U.S. men's coach Brian Shimer, a five-time Olympian.

In contrast to Shimer, an ex-football player from Florida, Napier grew up idolizing and watching VHS tapes of East German driver Wolfgang Hoppe, who won 20 World and Olympic medals in the 1980's and ‘90's.

"When I was real young, he was a force to be reckoned with," Napier said. "I viewed him as a dominant factor in the bobsledding world, and I always wanted to be a symbol like that."

Napier's parents were also avid bobsledders. His father, William, competed at the 1980 Olympic Trials and later served as the president of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation (USBSF).  His mother, Betsy, was a brakewoman in club races, and served as the secretary of the USBSF. And although the family lived in Schenectady, they also had a cabin on Bobsled Run Lane, the road that leads up to the Lake Placid Olympic track.

"My last trip in a competitive bobsled was with John's dad," said Olympic commentator John Morgan. "John is just like his father. He probably has one of the best hand-eye skills in the sport."

Napier developed his driving acumen when he was still in elementary school.  As a member of the Lake Placid pee-wee bobsledding program, Napier would spend every Friday and Saturday learning to drive an old-fashioned sled down the last five turns of the 1980 Olympic bobsled track.

"We were running them in half-scale copies of the 1932 Olympic sleds," said Napier's pee-wee coach Don Hass. "They were totally exposed [because the sleds had no sides] and they used a steering wheel [instead of ropes and D-rings like the professionals use]."

Hass remembered Napier as "a lanky, skinny kid" whose father's influence was undeniable.

"His dad agreed that I would coach John," Hass said, but Mr. Napier was equally committed to the youth program and the two men would often stand together at the side of the track in minus-30 degree weather, writing critiques of young drivers' skills.

As Napier's driving improved, he was allowed to pilot increasingly larger sleds from starting points higher and higher up the track.

At 16, he left home and moved to the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center to train full-time.

In February 2005 - when Napier was 18 - he caught a break.

Todd Hays, the 2002 Olympic silver medalist in the four-man event, was injured,  so Napier was called up to compete in his first World Cup race. It happened to be at the Lake Placid track, and his father, who was battling kidney cancer, skipped one of his treatments to watch his son race.

"We had an argument about it," Napier said, "but in retrospect, I'm glad he was there." Napier finished 15^th overall, and his father died four months later, on June 12, 2005, at age 66.

"My dad taught me everything I know," he said. For inspiration, Napier often travels with newspaper articles that quote his dad, because the quotes remind him of his father's strength.

Last season, Napier achieved a breakthrough in the World Cup four-man event when he earned a pair of eighth place finishes in Lake Placid and Park City, Utah.

Two months later, he made his World Championship debut in Altenberg, Germany, but finished out of the top 10.

"He gets beat by 10 or 15 hundredths at the start," said Morgan, the bobsledding commentator.  "When you get up to the big dogs and you can't start the sled, it doesn't matter if you have great push athletes, a great sled, or great runners.  The number one trump card is the start."

Napier's weakness hasn't diminished his passion for the sport, however.

"I like that feeling of fear," he said, "and in bobsledding, being scared happens daily."

One fright that Napier didn't expect came last Saturday morning. As he was driving to the track for the first day of Nationals, his tire slipped into the powdery berm of an un-salted, un-sanded, and un-paved road. Before he knew it, his 1999 white Dodge pickup truck flipped onto its roof.

"The driver's side was crunched in so I crawled out of the passenger side," he said. "I called my coach, Shimer. He asked if I was OK, and when I said, ‘Yes,' he said, ‘Well, you need to get here. It's an important day for you.'"

As Napier waited for state troopers and a tow truck, he called his brakeman and asked him to prepare the sled.

Napier showed up 40 minutes before the race, warmed up, and had two good runs.

He held a one-tenth of a second lead over the 2007 World Cup overall champion Steve Holcomb entering Day 2. By the time Nationals were over, Napier had won his first U.S. title.

Napier said the accident didn't affect his performance in the bobsled.

"I actually got a little bit of a rush out of it," he said. "I had never been in an accident before. Yes, I wrecked my truck, but I realized I was blessed. I was alright."

The U.S. Nationals resumed today with the four-man event, where Napier is vying for another National title.

Win or lose, Napier is dedicated, and his future seems long.

"I wake up thinking about bobsledding. I go to sleep dreaming about bobsledding. I spend every waking hour figuring out, ‘How can I be a better bobsledder?'

"Even if I don't make the Olympic team in 2010, I'm going to be back here whether I make it or not. I think that's what makes a true bobsledder."

Aimee Berg is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.

Tags: Bobsled, John Napier