Medalist Q&A: Curt Tomasevicz

Originally a football player at Nebraska, Curt Tomasevicz made the switch to bobsled at the age of 24 with the encouragement from a friend. For the last 6 years, Tomasevicz has been riding with Steven Holcomb, and at the recent Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, he was the brakeman for Holcomb's 2-man and 4-man bobsled teams. In the final run of the 4-man event, Tomasevicz and his teammates won the Gold Medal, the U.S.'s first bobsledding gold medal in 62 years.

Teamusa.org recently had the chance to ask him a few questions about his Olympic experience and plans for the future. Here's what he had to say.

1. What was it like holding that gold medal when your team finally won?
   Physically, it was pretty heavy and surprisingly has some weight to it, but the significance that it brought was the most important thing. It's a small symbol of all the hard work and part of the reward that's going into it.


2. How has your life changed since you won?
   It's been non-stop excitement. It seems like about 20 hours of every day I have a schedule where I have somewhere to be or somebody to talk to, classrooms to visit, and radio stations to interview. It's been non-stop fun.


3. What are your goals in life now and have they changed since winning gold?
   I don't think my goals in life have changed much, but I also don't have specific goals like having a career by age 30 or anything like that. But, my goals are still to do well in everything I do, to do it with 100% effort, and to try to be successful.


4. What would you say has changed to make USA Bobsled into a real world contender?
   Equipment was a huge thing, and the Bo-Dyn project has helped us a lot. The other thing is that, in the past couple of years, our sport has become a little more popular in the U.S. We've had a lot of great athletes come in, so the depth of our good push crews is a lot deeper.


5. What exactly is the Bo-Dyn Project?
   In 1992, Geoff Bodine, who was a Nascar driver, noticed that the United States was using German-made sleds and didn't think that was very right. So, he funded what is now known as the Bo-Dyn project. It's a sled production program where one of his former chief engineers for Nascar was set up to be in charge of bobsled, and we've been using what he designed and built for the past 18 years now. It's been great for the Federation.


6. How did you get into bobsledding? And what made you realize that bobsledding was your dream?
   I got into bobsledding after I met a girl on the Women's bobsledding team. She used to run track at Nebraska where I played football. When I was done with football, she talked me into trying out for the team myself. At that time, I was only 24, and it wasn't really part of my lifelong dream until that moment.


7. How did the 4 of you meet and get together for a team?
   I've known Holcomb since I started bobsled; he's been my driver for the last 6 years. And the other two guys, Steve and Justin, were picked by our coaches to be on the team with me.


8. Did the changes in the track from the opening day help or hurt your runs and why?
   I don't really know if the changes helped or hurt, but I think it gave the driver a chance to focus more on driving fast rather than driving safe. It relieved a little bit of pressure on them.


9. How many runs does it take on any given track to get a good feel for how the team will do?
   We had about a total of 40 trips down the Whistler track, and by 30 or 40, we were really getting a good feel about what we need to do and what lines the driver needs to follow.


10. What is your training regimen like?
    In the off season, we're doing dry land training like squats, cleans, and sprints. But once the season gets started and we can actually get on the ice, we try to take about 2-3 trips down the track every day.


11. Do you have any superstitions or pre-race rituals?
    Not really. I just try to keep a routine where I know what to expect and there are no big surprises. I try to perform the same each time, but I wouldn't call it a ritual.


12. If you could do any other event at the Winter Games, what would it be?
    Wow. Well, in Nebraska, hockey's not real popular, but I've always been a fan. I've always wanted to try it and play competitively, so I would have to say hockey.

Tags: Curt Tomasevicz, Medalist Q&A, USA Bobsled, Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games