Steve Holcomb

Steve Holcomb competed in three Olympic Winter Games, winning a four-man gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, piloting a sled he called the “Night Train” to victory, and bronze medals in both bobsleigh events at Sochi in 2014. He became a pilot after serving as a brakeman early in his career, and switched after failing to make the 2002 US Winter Olympic team. Early in his career Holcomb served in the Utah Army National Guard (1999-2006). He won the Overall World Cup title six times, and won 60 medals on the World Cup circuit. Holcomb won five World Championships, winning the two-man in 2012, four-man in 2009 and 2012, and the mixed team in 2012-13.

During the middle of his career, Holcomb developed eye problems with a disorder called keratoconus, and his virtual blindness led to depression. He underwent experimental eye surgery to correct the condition, which was successful. He detailed his struggles in a book published in 2012, But Now I See: My Journey From Blindness to Olympic Gold which also told how in 2007 he attempted suicide at the depths of his depression.

In April 2017, Holcomb was still competing and was training in Lake Placid, New York at the US Olympic Training Center, looking towards the next World Cup season and the 2018 Winter Olympics. Sadly, although only 37-years-old, he was found dead in his room at the training center. No cause of death was announced.