Erin Pac is a blobsled athlete competing at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Erin Pac (pronounced PACK) won the bronze medal at last season's Whistler World Cup, which served as the Olympic test event. It was her first World Cup medal and, according to Pac, the best moment of her competitive career. "It's been a long time coming to win a medal, and I was glad that was my first one." On their second run, she and brakeman Michelle Rzepka set the start record on the Olympic track. The Whistler result was particularly impressive because Pac had crashed in training two days before the race. "It gives me confidence that even with mistakes I still was able to do well," Pac says. "Hopefully leading into the Olympics that I can do even better."
Pac started running in elementary school because she "had a lot of energy." She competed in a variety of events in high school before focusing on the heptathlon at Springfield College. As a junior, she finished 10th at the NCAA Division III Championships. Pac's least favorite event was the 800 meters, which she describes as "not good for an explosive athlete." She adds: "Pushing a bobsled is more my cup of tea." Pac graduated from Springfield in 2003 with a degree in rehabilitation and disability studies.
In summer 2002, Pac's track coach at Springfield, Jim Pennington, received a recruiting email from USA Bobsled and suggested that she try out. Pac was game but admits, "I never watched a bobsled run in my life before I went and tried out for it." She underwent a series of testing drills at Northeastern University, met the initial requirements and was invited to a push camp in Lake Placid, New York. In October she went down a bobsled track for the first time in Park City, and by later that fall was on the World Cup circuit, braking for 2002 Olympic gold medalist Jill Bakken and Shauna Rohbock, who would win silver in Torino, among other drivers.
After to failing to make the 2006 Olympic team as a push athlete, Pac decided to take control of her career and become a driver. She attended driving school in Austria and by fall 2006 was driving on the World Cup circuit. Pac attributes her strong start times to her background as a brakeman: "I think that's helped me to make it as a driver," she explains. "A driver who's able to push and who has someone fast behind is going to have fast starts."
Pac says that when she started as a brakeman, bobsled was more about learning the sport and what goes into being an elite athlete. "I've always wanted to be an Olympian," she explains, "But when I became a driver that's when it really hit me: this is something I really enjoy and I have the talent to make it." She caught the Olympic bug at a young age, when her kindergarten teacher staged a mock Opening Ceremony and Pac got to carry the torch, but her early Olympic dreams were of success in track and field and gymnastics.
Pac says her favorite parts of bobsled are traveling, the thrill of going down the hill and the constant opportunity to learn. She also likes that she does something no one in her family has tried, although she is not the first winter athlete among them—Pac's grandfather was a ski jumper. When she's not training, Pac likes knitting, country music, writing poetry and watching movies.
Erin Pac (pronounced PACK) won the bronze medal at last season's Whistler World Cup, which served as the Olympic test event. It was her first World Cup medal and, according to Pac, the best moment of her competitive career. "It's been a long time coming to win a medal, and I was glad that was my first one." On their second run, she and brakeman Michelle Rzepka set the start record on the Olympic track. The Whistler result was particularly impressive because Pac had crashed in training two days before the race. "It gives me confidence that even with mistakes I still was able to do well," Pac says. "Hopefully leading into the Olympics that I can do even better."
Pac started running in elementary school because she "had a lot of energy." She competed in a variety of events in high school before focusing on the heptathlon at Springfield College. As a junior, she finished 10th at the NCAA Division III Championships. Pac's least favorite event was the 800 meters, which she describes as "not good for an explosive athlete." She adds: "Pushing a bobsled is more my cup of tea." Pac graduated from Springfield in 2003 with a degree in rehabilitation and disability studies.
In summer 2002, Pac's track coach at Springfield, Jim Pennington, received a recruiting email from USA Bobsled and suggested that she try out. Pac was game but admits, "I never watched a bobsled run in my life before I went and tried out for it." She underwent a series of testing drills at Northeastern University, met the initial requirements and was invited to a push camp in Lake Placid, New York. In October she went down a bobsled track for the first time in Park City, and by later that fall was on the World Cup circuit, braking for 2002 Olympic gold medalist Jill Bakken and Shauna Rohbock, who would win silver in Torino, among other drivers.
After to failing to make the 2006 Olympic team as a push athlete, Pac decided to take control of her career and become a driver. She attended driving school in Austria and by fall 2006 was driving on the World Cup circuit. Pac attributes her strong start times to her background as a brakeman: "I think that's helped me to make it as a driver," she explains. "A driver who's able to push and who has someone fast behind is going to have fast starts."
Pac says that when she started as a brakeman, bobsled was more about learning the sport and what goes into being an elite athlete. "I've always wanted to be an Olympian," she explains, "But when I became a driver that's when it really hit me: this is something I really enjoy and I have the talent to make it." She caught the Olympic bug at a young age, when her kindergarten teacher staged a mock Opening Ceremony and Pac got to carry the torch, but her early Olympic dreams were of success in track and field and gymnastics.
Pac says her favorite parts of bobsled are traveling, the thrill of going down the hill and the constant opportunity to learn. She also likes that she does something no one in her family has tried, although she is not the first winter athlete among them—Pac's grandfather was a ski jumper. When she's not training, Pac likes knitting, country music, writing poetry and watching movies.
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