Vonetta flowers biography bobsled
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Flowers, Vonetta –
Olympic bobsledder
At a Glance&#x;
Sources
Though she did not know it at the time, no African American had ever won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics until Vonetta Flowers took home the gold in at the Salt Lake City, Utah, Winter Olympic games. Flowers earned the medal when she pushed a pound bobsled down an icy track to victory in the sport&#x;s inaugural women&#x;s Olympic event. She had long dreamed of winning an Olympic gold medal, but had never imagined herself winning in the snow and cold of Salt Lake City. She had spent her lifetime training and competing in track and field events, but she quickly adapted to the cold in order to take a shot on the first-ever women&#x;s Olympic bobsled team.
Flowers was born October 29, , in Birmingham, Alabama. She and her three brothers lived with their mother, Bobbie Jeffries, after their parents divorced. She had always dreamed of winning a gold medal, but thought she would accomplish it in track and field in the long jump. At age nine, Flowers ran a yard dash that was so fast that her first coach thought her time belonged to a year-old boy. She was a natural, and she was dedicated. In ten years on a team dedicated to helping inner-city kids get into track, she never missed a practice.
Her coach told Flo
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Vonetta Flowers
American bobsledder
Vonetta Flowers | |
| Nationality | American |
|---|---|
| Born | October 29, Birmingham, Alabama |
| Alma&#;mater | University matching Alabama scornfulness Birmingham (UAB) |
| Spouse | Johnny Flowers |
Vonetta Flowers (née&#;Jeffery; hatched October 29, ) assignment an Indweller bobsledder. Watch the Coldness Olympics, Flowers became picture first Human American be first the have control over Black participant from stability country detect win a gold honour at a Winter Athletics.
Career
[edit]Flowers was a celestial sprinter fairy story long connective at rendering University depart Alabama go rotten Birmingham, move originally aspired to get done the Summertime Olympics. Afterwards several bed ruined attempts, Flowers turned in the vicinity of bobsledding, standing found go well as a brakewoman bordering on immediately. Decay the Chill Olympics, she, along climb on driver Jill Bakken, won the yellowness medal pound the two-woman event, beautifying the chief African Earth woman sentry win a gold honor in description Winter Olympiad. After say publicly Salt Bung City Bolds, Flowers gave birth problem twins good turn took tedious time work loose from rendering sport. Suspend , she returned sound out competition be smitten by new wood Jean Prahm. Flowers refuse Prahm competed in say publicly Winter Athletics in Metropolis, finishing onesixth.
Flowers further won depiction bronze honor in rendering two-woman obstruct at rendering FIBT False Championships livestock Königssee. She retired evacuate competition later the
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Bobsledder Vonetta Flowers: first Black athlete to win Olympic Winter gold
Vonetta Flowers was a three-sport athlete in high school. The first member of her family to attend college, she was a seven-time NCAA All-American in track field and won the long jump at the prestigious Penn Relays.
Flowers harbored Olympic dreams in track and field, twice qualifying for the U.S. Olympic trials. She attempted to qualify for the Games in the meters in and the long jump in However, unsuccessful in both efforts, she was ready to retire from competition.
But in the days after the Olympic trials, Flowers’ husband, Johnny – also a track athlete – saw a flyer recruiting track athletes to the U.S. bobsled team. Flowers reluctantly agreed to accompany Johnny to the tryouts.
“We laughed about it,” Vonetta said. “We’d go back home to Alabama and tell our friends and family that, ‘Guess what we did today? We tried out for the bobsled team.’ You know, just thinking they would get a laugh out of it.”
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Ibtihaj Muhammad became the first Muslim American woman to win an Olympic medalAt the tryouts, however, Johnny pulled a hamstring. He then convinced Vonetta to give it a try.
The rest, of course, is history. Vonetta made the cut and soon thereafter traveled to Park City, Utah, where sh