Going for the Gold: Matt Antoine

The "Going for the Gold" series kicked off our One-Year-Countdown to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. We will feature a different 2010 U.S. Olympic or Paralympic hopeful each week with a vodcast on the first and second Friday of every month.

Matt Antoine and his fellow skeleton athletes and bobsledders celebrated the end of the 2008-2009 season at a gala last month hosted by the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation. At the event, Antoine was presented with three honors: Men's Skeleton Athlete of the Year, Men's Skeleton Athlete Choice Award and Skeleton Rookie of the Year.

Coaches choose the recipients of the Athlete of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards, and national team members vote for the Athletes' Choice award. So that's a pretty big honor for a 24-year-old who only began sliding seven years ago. Antoine saw skeleton when he was watching the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympic Games, and he said that it gave him ideas. He decided he wanted to be the one on his stomach sliding down the ice head first at 80 mph.

The following year Antoine moved to Lake Placid, N.Y., to attend a skeleton driving school. He found his calling because now he is the No. 1-ranked member of Team USA and No. 8 in the world. While he's been climbing the skeleton ranks, he also enrolled at the California University of Pennsylvania. He recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in fitness and wellness.

Antoine, who hails from Prairie du Chien, Wis., won gold at an Intercontinental Cup race in December. He also had second-place finishes at three races during the America's Cup competition this season.

In 2007-2008, the 6-3 skeleton athlete was the Intercontinental Cup Tour Champion. Antoine also won bronze at the national championships and at the World Cup Team Event.

During the 2006-2007 season, Antoine received the Randy Price Memorial Award for good sportsmanship. He also set a track record of 54.74 seconds at Lake Placid. Throughout the America's Cup competition, he finished first in four races. At the national championships, he placed third.

Antoine competed in his first World Cup tour this season, and he stood out among his opponents when he won bronze at the race in Whistler, British Columbia.

Whistler just so happens to be the site of the 2010 Games for the skeleton athletes. Maybe it's a sign that Antoine will be atop the podium at his Olympic debut in Vancouver.