The Connection

While watching the 2010 winter Olympics bobsled and skeleton runs staged in Canada, James Madison High School graduate Veronica Day joked to her college roommate they they, too, should learn to bobsled. A track and field athlete herself in high school and college, Day learned from the television broadcast that many of the participants were track and field athletes like herself.

Her life changed when she “Googled” bobsled and skeleton U.S. Olympics and clicked the “recruitment” tab. Now, Day trains to represent the United States at the 2018 Winter Olympics in the Republic of Korea.

"I’m doing skeleton because it’s fun and I’m good at it … If I were not, I’d go out and get a normal job.”

--Olympic hopeful Veronica Day of Vienna

“I’m doing skeleton because it’s fun and I’m good at it,” said Day. “If I were not, I’d go out and get a normal job.”

AFTER GRADUATING from Elon College in 2011, Day made her way to Lake Placid, N.Y., where she entered a combine.

“Because of my stature, skeleton was a better fit than bobsled,” said Day. “The fitness test went well and I signed up for a sliding school in the fall.”

Now, Day is vying for a spot on the U.S. Olympic skeleton team, and, at 26 years old, Day is currently ranked sixth nationally in skeleton competition.

Skeleton, referred to as “sliding,” involves a one-person sled that zooms down an icy track. It appears similar to bobsledding or luging. The slider could reach speeds of up to 90 miles per hour.

Day is excited to compete in the national team tryouts in the fall of 2017. The top two competitors will compete in the World Cup circuit and are likely to be chosen to represent the U.S. in the 2018 Olympics.

All United States athletes training for the Olympics are self-funded, and, Day said, it costs her about $15,000 to $17,000 a year to train. “You have to be good at tracks around the world, and I pay for everything. There is no government support.”

That is where the Optimists of Greater-Vienna come in. The local club pledged support for Day for four years, a partnership Day values.

“Veronica Day with her passion and dedication to achieving the goal of Olympic Gold, certainly represents the best of Vienna’s young people,” said Vienna Optimist, Tom Bauer. Bauer noted that “bringing out the best in youth” is an Optimist mission.

To support herself financially, Day works for the USA Olympic committee in Colorado Springs where she maintains an apartment. She trains, though, in Park City, Utah, and in Lake Placid, N. Y. Travel costs are her own.

Day is a three-time Southern Conference Champion, nine-time All-Conference honoree, Southern Conference Field Athlete of the Year and recipient of the Stein H. Basnight Most Outstanding Athlete Award by Elon University.

“You have one life to live,” said Day. “If something piques your interest, go and try, go for it.”

Day earns “points” at each of the four domestic races held in the fall, the national team trials. During the summer, when there is no sliding practice, Day concentrates on strength-training.

Sometimes, when sliding down a new, strange run, Day thinks, “what did I get myself into?” Once she has experienced the slide, though, she becomes comfortable with the run.

“If it wasn’t worthwhile, I wouldn’t be doing it,” Day said.

TO LEARN MORE about Vienna’s own Veronica Day or to support her, go to the Team USA website,

http://www.teamusa.org/usa-bobsled-skeleton-federation/athletes/Veronica-Day