Today in Sochi, Russia at 10:15 a.m. ET the women's two-man bobsled competition kicks off at the 2014 Winter Olympics, which can be live streamed for free by clicking this link. Many eyes will be on the Americans and Lolo Jones in particular, who made her bones in the summer Olympics as a breakout hurdler.
While tons of fans will surely be tuning in to see how Lolo Jones fares, another former track star, Lauryn Williams, is making just as difficult a transition, and may be a greater threat to medal. In one of her first runs with top pilot Elana Meyers she took responsibility for wrecking the sled, but Meyers brushed it off and had high praise for the newcomer to bobsledding.
"She doesn't give herself enough credit. This sport is not easy. It's not easy to come in and push a sled," Meyers said. "For Lauryn to come in and be in the No. 1 sled this quickly - that's a true testament to her ability as an athlete."
Indeed moving Williams to the No. 1 sled raised eyebrows, but Meyers believes the team is in good hands. "It's not really taking a chance when you have one of the fastest women in the world behind you," Meyers said. She will be paired with Jamie Greubel for the first run today.
For a while Jones was in danger of being left off the squad, but she has improved enough to land on the No. 3 sled with Jazmine Fenlator. "I'm a very technical personal because I'm a hurdler, so that helped me to break it down," Jones said. "I don't think it's as easy as people assume."
The Americans must be on the watch for Germany, and former gold medalist Sandra Kiriasis who is a veteran of every type of bobsledding event. Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse of Team Canada also figure to be major players in these Games after taking home gold in the Vancouver Games.
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