Athletes gather in Spokane for chance to slide to Winter Olympics glory

May 17-The athletes gathered at Shadle Park High School Saturday dreamed of competing for Olympic gold in the snow -laden French Alps.

One by one they checked in at the registration clipboard, ensured their respective $75 was paid and competed in a series of tests in a bid to represent Team USA in a roughly 400-pound sled.

USA Bobsled and Skeleton held a recruiting combine Saturday in Spokane, drawing a dozen athletes to a high school track amid dreary weather. The event is part of a series of recruiting events held in cities across the country to find athletes who otherwise may not have considered the obscure sports.

Athletes in bobsled, or bobsleigh, races compete as individuals, in teams of two or four, barreling down ice-covered tracks in fiberglass and steel sleds at 80 to 90 mph, on average. Skeleton racers go down the same tracks alone, just as fast, on a stripped-down sled more akin to the classic 'Flexible Flyer.'

Each track featured in the Winter Olympics and international competition is unique, but most are around a mile long, drop hundreds of feet in elevation and feature more than a dozen turns. The athletes wear helmets to protect themselves, but only aerodynamic suits from the neck down to shave extra time off the clock.

No experience was required to participate in the combine. It would be hard to come by; there are reportedly less than 20 active bobsled tracks in the world. USA Bobsled and Skeleton spokeswoman Abby Slenker said there are only two in the United States: in Park City, Utah, and the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York.

"You get a ton of athletes who honestly have never heard of bobsled or skeleton, besides maybe watching 'Cool Runnings' before, who then come and try out," Slenker said. "And what motivates a lot of people is chasing that Olympic dream."

There can be a uniquely short turnaround from tryout to competing compared to most sports, Slenker said. Two of the 2026 Olympic team members were recruited during combines held in 2024: former collegiate athletes Caleb Furnell, a sprinter, and Hunter Powell, a distance runner.

Track and field and football athletes have the most "talent transfer" to the winter races statistically, Slenker said. Most are recent college graduates, but the combines are open to those as young as 18 years old.

"Those are our main two, because they require a lot of explosive speed, power, and people are usually pretty good at jumping from the training that they've been doing," Slenker said. "But we have athletes from all different backgrounds who come, try out and then fall in love with a sport."

The results of Saturday's combine will be reviewed, and some participants may be invited to participate in a rookie camp at Lake Placid. The camp is often the first time an athlete will try pushing a sled on ice, Slenker said.

That would be the case for Braden Mitchell, a former collegiate athlete raised in Midvale, Idaho. Mitchell, 25, traveled to Spokane from Boise to participate in the combine. He used to compete in the 400 meter as a Boise State University Bronco, and was a high school football player.

"I just saw it advertised around the time of the Olympics and thought, 'Why not give it a shot?' " Mitchell said.

Coworkers Key Corbray, 26, and Kal Ellison, 25, made the trek from Seattle to participate. The two are strength and conditioning coaches, but have participated in athletics for years. Corbray played soccer and basketball and competed as a jumper in track and field, while Ellison trained from a young age as a gymnast, and later led the Indiana University Marching Hundred band for two years as a drum major.

Corbray believes the experience would transfer well to bobsledding or skeleton. There's nothing to the races that would intimidate her to try it, she said.

"Athleticism is athleticism," Corbray said.

"It's also nice just to test athletic ability," Ellison added.

Seeing what different athletes are capable of is part of the attraction in hosting the combine, said Luke Lollis, owner of the gym Forward, a Parisi Speed School licensee. Lollis hosted a smaller recruiting event for USA Bobsled and Skeleton last year and was blown away by some of the measurements athletes walked away with.

The Parisi Speed School is a national network of youth training centers and programming, and Lollis became a member a few years ago. He said his athletes are not quite at the age to participate in the combine, but he hopes to see some students try out down the road.

"We're kind of bringing them up from middle through high school, and we're starting to implement more programming for college athletes as they reach that point," Lollis said.

Slenker said there will be more opportunities to make the team in the weeks to come. Recruiting events will be held on May 23 in St. Louis, Bristol, Connecticut, and Newark, California. There will be two combines on May 30 in Lithopolis, Ohio , and Columbia, Maryland, and one on May 31 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The series wraps up with a combine in Beaumont, Texas , on June 6.

Corbray had a few supporters stop by shortly after she logged her times in a few sprints of varying distances. She said the combine is the reason she and Ellison made the trek.

"Nothing ever happens if you don't try," Corbray said.

For Mitchell, a call -up to the USA Bobsled and Skeleton Rookie Camp would mean another crack at competition, years after hanging up his spikes.

"Just a chance to continue competing in something," Mitchell said.

"I guess I should say it's always kind of been a dream to be a bobsledder, huh?" he added with a laugh.

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This story was originally published May 17, 2026 at 7:07 PM.