March 23, 2008
by Heather Thomas
UC Davis Athletics Media Relations
It started as a joke while watching the Winter Olympics in 2006. But for Emily Azevedo, it is now a dream that she lives everyday.
Azevedo, a 2005 graduate of UC Davis, has been a part of the women's U.S. National Team for bobsledding since 2006 as a brakeman and hopes to earn a spot on the Olympic team in 2010. The idea of bobsledding never occurred to her until seeing it on TV.
"We just joked about it being something I could try," Azevedo said. "Everybody would say, `What's Emily going to do with her life?' and they would say, `She's going to bobsled.' But I thought, why not?"
Azevedo got some help from track and field coach Deanne Vochatzer who had also helped train track athletes with gold medalist Bonny Warner. Knowing that Azevedo had promise for the sport, Vochatzer filled her in with all the information she had about the sport.
"They look for track athletes because of their speed to be pushers," Vochatzer said. "Emily is super strong and she is a good sized, versatile, and talented athlete and she is tough. With her, it's 'get it right or get out of my way' and she was that way since she was a freshman (at Davis)."
During her years as an Aggie, she was an asset to the track and field team, helping them to their first Div. I Independent Championship. She also set the women's record for the 100 meter hurdles which still stands at 14.23. Azevedo's time as a track and field athlete has helped her evolve into her bobsledding career.
"Being a hurdler, there's a lot of technique involved," she said. "There's a lot of technique with bobsledding as well - people don't realize it - but there is. They are both technical, and learning something technical in track really carried over. Not to mention that speed is important as well."
Her speed on the track pales in comparison of the speeds she hits going down the icy bobsledding track. Azevedo averages about 80 miles per hour when she goes down the track, and has even eclipsed the 90 mph mark. Despite the speeds, Azevedo has had uncountable bruises and one sprained ankle during her career. Her sprained ankle occurred at the beginning of the 2007-08 season, making this year the toughest she has faced yet.
"I sprained my ankle pretty bad at the very beginning of the season so I had been playing catch up all this year," Azevedo said. "This year was a really frustrating year since I started off with an injury. I think competing at this level, you have always be on your game."
Most recently, Azevedo placed fourth as the USA's top placing competitor while in Igls, Austria with driver Jamia Jackson. The teams spend November through February in season with a month of competition being held overseas working towards the World Championships.
"It's a good experience," says Azevedo of her overseas travels. "It's really interesting to see different cultures, and experience different things. I've gone over there twice now and I've learned new things every year. The people in Europe love bobsledding so it's incredible to go to the races and have people ask for your autograph. In Europe, you get to wave to the crowd - because there actually is a crowd."
During the season, her time is eaten up by traveling and competition but there isn't much of a break even when the season ends. Avezedo spends about 30 hours a week in the gym working on the two important qualities of a bobsledder - speed and strength. In addition to lifting, she also does a lot of sprinting which is nothing new to the former track star.
Her goals for the coming months are two-fold. She hopes not only to grow stronger and faster but to also to improve herself:
"Most importantly I want to gain confidence in myself, believe in myself more and know that I'm here for a reason. I just need to be more confident."
Avezedo hopes to build on her career. In her first appearance at the World Championships last year, she earned 8th place in a field of 23 others.
"I think for me the biggest accomplishment is just being here," she said. "I have higher goals than that, but I think that taking the risk and deciding why can't I do this sport is a real accomplishment in life in general. It's hard to do things like that. It's scary. And I was really scared of a lot of things at first and I think it's a huge accomplishment just to be here."
