I'm trying out for the Olympic Bobsled team

[MooMoo2]

It all started when I saw the football team push sleds to improve their speed. I wondered if the opposite was true. Do people work on their speed so that they can get better at pushing sleds? And does any sport involve pushing sleds? Hmmm....

So I went to http://www.teamusa.org/usa-bobsled-s.../join-the-team last night and decided to try out for the Olympic team. My next step will be doing the bobsled combine on August 12. If I score over 500 points (the maximum possible score is 600), I'll be invited to a rookie camp and have the chance to compete in some local races. If I do really well in those, I'll be in the Olympics.

The combine involves running, jumping, and throwing. The score sheet is attached. Does anyone want to predict my times and scores? I haven't really trained for this, so my results will be indicative of what a reasonably fit weekend warrior in his 20s can do. I'm 5'7" (170 cm) and weigh 110 pounds (50 kg).

I've spent the past few hours Googling "broad jump technique" and watching videos of people doing a standing long jump and a bobsled combine start (there's no reaction time, unlike a 100m dash). Due to my size, I have little hope of throwing a 16 lb shot far enough (12 meters) to get any points in the shot toss, but I might be able to score some points in the running and jumping events. One of my friends disagrees and claims the test was designed for professional athletes, not for people like me who barely meet the physical activity guideline of 75-150 minutes/week.

Anyway, that's enough thinking for now. I need to book my flight, hotel, and car rental

[retina]

Originally Posted by MooMoo2

I need to book my ... car rental

NO. I think you mean bicycle rental, right? Get in those hours and improve your fitness.

Sheesh, why is it always a car? Don't people do anything for themselves any more?

[Batalov]

Best of luck to you! You could be our own Eddie Edwards, and beyond!
_____________
"The important thing in Life is not triumph, but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by MooMoo2

I'm 5'7" (170 cm) and weigh 110 pounds (50 kg).

Have you seen a typical bobsled-team pusher? (And I'm not talking about the kind who peddle the PEDs. :) Let's just say the physical profile is - rather different - and I doubt that is simply to look good for the Team USA beefcake calendars.

But good luck with your endeavors, in any event!

[science_man_88]

Originally Posted by MooMoo2

It all started when I saw the football team push sleds to improve their speed. I wondered if the opposite was true. Do people work on their speed so that they can get better at pushing sleds? And does any sport involve pushing sleds? Hmmm....

So I went to http://www.teamusa.org/usa-bobsled-s.../join-the-team last night and decided to try out for the Olympic team. My next step will be doing the bobsled combine on August 12. If I score over 500 points (the maximum possible score is 600), I'll be invited to a rookie camp and have the chance to compete in some local races. If I do really well in those, I'll be in the Olympics.

The combine involves running, jumping, and throwing. The score sheet is attached. Does anyone want to predict my times and scores? I haven't really trained for this, so my results will be indicative of what a reasonably fit weekend warrior in his 20s can do. I'm 5'7" (170 cm) and weigh 110 pounds (50 kg).

I've spent the past few hours Googling "broad jump technique" and watching videos of people doing a standing long jump and a bobsled combine start (there's no reaction time, unlike a 100m dash). Due to my size, I have little hope of throwing a 16 lb shot far enough (12 meters) to get any points in the shot toss, but I might be able to score some points in the running and jumping events. One of my friends disagrees and claims the test was designed for professional athletes, not for people like me who barely meet the physical activity guideline of 75-150 minutes/week.

Anyway, that's enough thinking for now. I need to book my flight, hotel, and car rental

I think you are selling yourself short ( admittedly much like I do) I once put away over 900 kg of flour in a shift at my job placement, and I'm about 5 foot 4 and 65 kg. 2.4 meters is approaching 7 foot 10.5 inches for the broad jump 12 meters is about 39 foot 4.5 inches, as to the others, other than if they are times, I'm a little mixed up on what they mean. 16 lb is about 7.25 kg ( which under 9.80665 N/kg = about 71.2 newtons force to move it that far prior to air resistance and angles/arc) for the shot.

[MooMoo2]

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone!

Originally Posted by ewmayer

Have you seen a typical bobsled-team pusher? (And I'm not talking about the kind who peddle the PEDs. :) Let's just say the physical profile is - rather different

I might have better luck with the skeleton (their combine is the same as the bobsled combine). Tristan Gale was about my size and won gold in the skeleton in the 2002 Olympics, so there's some hope!

On another note, this might appeal to some of the 'muricans out there:
https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/...ng-to-bobsled/

Q:Do you follow a special diet?

A:Our diet is basically just to eat everything we want.

[0PolarBearsHere]

Is this just an excuse to watch Cool Runnings and call it research?

[MooMoo2]

I just got back! I'll post some pictures along with an interesting story later today, but here are my results:
http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Bobsled-S...bine-Test/2017

15m - 2.28 (66 points)
30m - 4.02 (64 points)
45m - 5.67 (65 points)

Flying 30m - 3.43 (60 points)*

Broad jump - 2.58m (59 points)
Shot toss - 7.7m (0 points)

Total - 314 points
Total possible points - 600 points
Total points needed to get to the next round - 450 points

*My flying 30m is listed as 3.43, but it should actually be 3.39 (5.67 seconds - 2.28 seconds). I would have gotten 62 points instead of 60, but even getting a perfect 100 points in that event wouldn't have gotten me into the Olympics.

[LaurV]

Well... Congrats!
You should not be disappointed about not getting into Olympics. I think that your results are very good, and the most of us here won't get even close! You for sure invested a lot of work into those results. I wish you better luck next time (well... I am sure that the luck is about a lot of practice and transpiration!)...

[henryzz]

Looks like you were very much the lightest.

[Uncwilly]

I think that this quote works for the athletically gifted (as well as singers, knowledgeable folks, etc.):

Originally Posted by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Bluebeard

...simply moderate giftedness has been made worthless by the printing press and radio and television and satellites and all that. A moderately gifted person who would have been a community treasure a thousand years ago has to give up, has to go into some other line of work, since modern communications put him or her into daily competition with nothing but world's champions.... A moderately gifted person has to keep his or her gifts all bottled up until, in a manner of speaking, he or she gets drunk at a wedding and tap-dances on the coffee table like Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers. We have a name for him or her. We call him or her an "exhibitionist." How do we reward such an exhibitionist? We say to him or her the next morning, "Wow! Were you ever drunk last night!”

I have the first part of the quote posted in my workspace at the place that trades me money for time.