American-made technology gives USA’s bobsled teams momentum into 2010 Winter Olympics

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - It was the kind of situation that in previous years might have meant the end of a world class athlete’s Olympic aspirations.

Here was Mike Kohn, driving, literally, to become the third American sled in the upcoming Vancouver Winter Olympics. The affable pilot, having been a brakeman on Brian Shimer’s Olympic bronze medal-winning four-man crew in Salt Lake City, was the dominant driver in Lake Placid’s America’s Cup events prior to Christmas with four gold medals and one silver in five starts. The 37 year old was now getting the scent of another Olympic Games, this time in western Canada. But it was the Made-in-America Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project that enabled Kohn to keep hope alive in the America’s Cup, a circuit akin to Triple A baseball.

During a Wednesday training run for an America’s Cup four-man event on the weekend, Kohn crashed, rendering the sled inoperable without spending hours in a shop repairing the damage. Unfortunately, he didn’t have hours on his side - just one hour to get to the start - for the mandatory second training run. 

Without a back-up sled, Kohn, a sargeant in the Army National Guard, could not have started. Instead, he went to the new Whelen Bodine Bobsled Race Shop at the foot of Mount Van Hoevenberg, and pulled out a Bo-Dyn craft that not only got him the second training run, but also enabled him to step to the top rung of the podium later in the week.

The America’s Cup points that he accumulated, with the Bo-Dyn Project’s help, gives Kohn a chance to compete at the Whistler Sliding Center, site of the bobsled events at the Vancouver Winter Games. He’ll step up to the World Cup in January and race the tracks in Koenigsee, Germany; the natural course in St. Moritz, Switzerland; and Igls, Austria having to outperform most likely Canada and Russia for the right to be named USA III behind Steve Holcomb and John Napier. 

"Without the Bo-Dyn Project, I would not have been able to get into the race," he said during the holiday break from his home in Myrtle Beach, S.C. "We have depth in the Bo-Dyn sleds now. It’s really great. For us, we don’t get a lot of publicity - except every four years - but we have an expensive sport. It’s nice to go to the garage and get a $50,000 sled. No more out-of-pocket expenses." 

This scenario, in the making since 1992 when NASCAR’s Geoff Bodine, another former member of the Army National Guard, launched the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project with auto racing designer and builder Bob Cuneo of Chassis Dynamics. The initiative has more than leveled the playing field in recent years. It has resulted in Olympic gold, two silvers and one bronze medal since 2002 for U.S. sledders. In addition, Holcomb’s "Night Train" four-man Bo-Dyn sled captured the 2009 World Championship, the national team’s first such achievement in 50 years. Tack on many World Cup victories, outstanding performances in the first half of the 2009-10 World Cup season including Napier’s first career victory and there is reason to believe that an American pilot could end a 62-year Olympic gold medal drought.

"I was around when we had to beg and borrow equipment from the Europeans," continued Kohn. "But Bodine’s dream came true. It’s been unbelievable how they’ve helped over the years."

The event that brings notoriety to the Bo-Dyn Project mission is the upcoming Lucas Oil Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge presented by Whelen Engineering, now in its fifth year. Stars from NASCAR and NHRA gather to race modified bobsleds Jan. 8-10 in Lake Placid. The goal is simple: raise more money and awareness for an endeavor which requires continuing efforts in research and development. Similar to auto racing, in the sport of bobsledding if you are standing still you are losing ground. 

"The event is huge and the project is great," stated Kohn. "We are thankful they like coming here and racing. They ham it up and have a great time, but they really like to race. It’s what they do."

The various formats will find the all drivers battling the clock in one competition before the annual NASCAR / NHRA head-to-head challenge.

Tickets are on sale for the race action at the Olympic Sports Complex, just outside Lake Placid, as well as the annual auction at the Lake Placid Crowne Plaza Resort. 

For weekend details, please log on to www.bodynbobsled.com/index.php?page_id=11