Nick Cunningham was a Brakeman, on the 2010 USA Olympic Bobsled Team. After a long track and field and football career, Cunningham switched to the snow and ice.
In a borrowed sled, Team Cunningham placed 7th out of 12, piloting his first America's Cup race held April 2. Starting a week after the Olympics' Closing Ceremonies, Nick and his rookie brakeman IsaacFernandez, trained for only 3 weeks in Lake Placid. This was the last race of the season.
Think long and hard to yourself and think about a dream you’ve always had. Something that you’ve always wanted.
Being an Olympian has always been my dream since I was little. I’ve always wanted to march into a packed stadium wearing “USA” across my chest and waving my nation’s flag. A few days ago I was able to live out this dream. Standing in the tunnel waiting to walk into the stadium was all so surreal. It seemed like a movie setting. Hearing some of the best athletes in the world all around me chant “USA, USA, USA!” Seeing our flag take that first step into the stadium and hearing the crowd erupt in a defining cheer was something that I will cherish my entire life. It was at that moment that I realized that it was beyond me now. It was for my country, my peers, friends, family and anyone that has a dream that they think can’t come true.
Let this be a lesson. If you want something badly enough, all you have to do is work to achieve. Walking the five hundred feet around the stadium floor and seeing all of those people, it dawned on me that I had done it. I am living my dream. Not only am I living it, I get to share it with the over three billion viewers. All of the sacrifices have finally paid off. It still hasn’t processed in my head that I am now an Olympian. A title that can never be taken away.
Seeing the torch burning brightly in the middle of the arena during the closing moments had me stopped dead in my tracks. I just stood there and stared at the flame, burning bright. The whole world has come together for this. At this very moment, the world would stand still from all of the hate and war, and watch a sporting event. A sporting event that I am a participant. This is the biggest sporting event known to mankind. I am bearing the red, white and blue. Same as those of the greatest athletes in history. I am representing everyone. This is truly the happiest moment I have ever had.
Looking at all of the other athletes from all over the world, it didn’t take me long to realize that I was also here to get a job done, to compete and try and win the United States a gold medal.
We have since moved from the Olympic village in Vancouver to the village in Whistler. It’s a lot smaller with fewer athletes. We will get on the ice tomorrow for some practice runs. It’s my drivers first time down the track but I have faith in him to get the job done.
Birthplace: Los Gatos, CA Hometown: Monterey, CA Residence: Monterey, CA Ht: / Wt: 5'11" / 215 lbs
Budding brakeman Since joining the national team in 2008, Cunningham has helped push Mike Kohn's four-man sled to glory on the America's Cup circuit, grabbing four gold medals during the last two seasons. In addition, he took silver and bronze at the 2009 National Championships, and finished a respectable 11th with John Napier at the 2009 Worlds in Lake Placid.
Olympic debut In Vancouver, Cunningham will be teaming up with Kohn again as a part of USA-3's four-man sled. And Kohn has nothing but praise for the California native. "He's a good kid, [who] works really hard, [and who] works well with the team," Kohn said during a USBSF teleconference prior to the Games. "We were a little apprehensive to take him at first, but [my coach] Sepp Plozza actually recommended him about two years ago, and the reason for that was because we'd heard that he was a rodeo cowboy. We thought, ‘Well, if he can do that, he can definitely ride the back of a bobsled.' He's a pretty tough kid. I like having him on the team."
Boise ties Cunningham -- who had brief stints running track and field at the University of California-Santa Barbara and Monterey Peninsula College -- was a champion sprinter during his days at Boise State University, where he earned a communications degree in 2008. He is the third Olympic athlete who will be competing in Vancouver with connections to Boise; two-time Olympic freestyle skier Jeret "Speedy" Peterson and biathlete Sara Studebaker were both born and raised in the Idaho state capital.
January 31, 2010
Former Boise State sprinter Nick Cunningham thrilled to be part of U.S. Olympic bobsled team
Nick Cunningham and his parents were driving near Santa Barbara, Calif., six years ago when they encountered a winding, downhill road. "It kind of looks like a bobsled track," Wendy Cunningham, Nick's mom, said.
"Don't you have to be fast to do the bobsled?" added Tim Cunningham, Nick's dad.
That little exchange prompted some research - and put a crazy idea in the back of Nick's mind.
Bobsled. Sounds like fun.
Four years later, when Cunningham graduated from Boise State after three seasons as a sprinter on the track team, he decided to give it a try.
And in just 18 months in the U.S. bobsled program, the surfer from Monterey, Calif., earned a spot in the Vancouver Olympics.
Cunningham, the brakeman on the USA-3 four-man sled, is slated to make his Olympic debut Feb. 26.
"There aren't a lot of words for it," Wendy said. "We're just very proud of him and how he sticks to it. É (Friends) always think that it comes easy to him because whatever he goes after for the most part he achieves, but they don't see what he has to go through to get to it - the disappointments and the things he's had to give up."
Cunningham's bobsled career has been anything but a joy ride. He earned a spot in the program at a combine and spent the past two seasons fighting for a spot in a sled. He was an alternate for much of the 2008-09 season, although he was in the USA-3 sled for the world championships. He started this season as an alternate, too, but became a regular on USA-3.
Along the way, Cunningham packed on more than 40 pounds and learned the finer points of sled maintenance. At about 210 pounds, he still is small by bobsled standards. Teams with lighter pushers must add weight to their sleds to compensate, meaning the team must push a heavier sled.
That forces Cunningham to make up the difference with power and speed. He's the last man into the sled - responsible for making sure the first three guys get in safely and pulling the brake at the finish line.
He earned an Olympic spot despite what some consider the deepest pool of push athletes in U.S. history.
"The fact that he made it in such a short time is pretty incredible," said Jamie Moriarty, a push athlete for USA-3 who is in his fourth year. "Part of that is his athletic ability. Another part is his willingness to learn and absorb the sport as quickly as he did."
Cunningham's journey was just part of his Olympic challenge. When driver Todd Hays got injured this season, USA-3's driver was promoted. Former Olympian Mike Kohn stepped in and needed to earn enough world ranking points to qualify for the Olympics - a long shot at best.
On the last possible run, USA-3 clinched its Olympic spot with a sixth-place finish in a World Cup event in Switzerland.
"It was real emotional when we crossed the finish line," Cunningham said. "É The hugs and crying began."
Kohn, who nearly quit the sport when he didn't make the World Cup team at the beginning of this season, won a bronze medal as a push athlete in the 2002 Olympics.
"Winning an Olympic medal was amazing, but it doesn't compare to the team camaraderie felt over these last few weeks," he told The Associated Press. "The Olympics is about more than winning medals, and this experience is one I'll remember for the rest of my life."
Overcoming long odds is nothing new to Cunningham.
He remembers shopping for track shoes as a kid. The salesman kept pointing him toward the distance shoes. He wanted the sprinter's shoes.
"That was my motivation in high school and college," he said. "I wanted to prove him wrong."
He was invited to join the Boise State track team after writing a letter to the coaching staff. He spent one year on the track team at UC Santa Barbara and one year on the football team at Monterey Peninsula College.
Less than a year after he arrived at Boise State, he was named a team captain. He ran the 100 meters, 200 and 4x100 relay.
Even then, he talked about trying bobsled - and he even learned to ride bulls at a ranch in Kuna.
"He's very adventurous," said Amy Christoffersen, the former Boise State sprint coach who recruited Cunningham. "É He's really bubbly and energetic and enthusiastic about everything."
Cunningham's next challenge - driving a bobsled. He plans to start next season with an eye on the 2014 Olympics.
He'll need to go through driving school this year, acquire sponsorships for his sled and find push athletes willing to take a chance on him.
"You've got to be a go-getter in this sport," Cunningham said. "Too many people are scared to go outside the box. I've always been known as, 'Say I won't do something and watch me do it.' "
That's the story of USA-3 this year - from Kohn to Cunningham.
"The four of us together had to really fight to make it," Cunningham said. "É We're so fired up. We're the darkhorse of not only the USA team but of the world. Nobody expects us to go up there and do anything and that really motivates the four of us."
Monterey High graduate Nick Cunningham qualifies for Winter Olympics
Monterey grad makes U.S. bobsled team for Winter Games
By JOHN DEVINE Herald Staff WriterUpdated: 01/18/2010
As soon as the ride was completed and Nick Cunningham glanced at his American teammates, tears began to well up in his eyes. The 24-year-old Monterey resident is headed to the Winter Olympics.
"I am in absolute disbelief," Cunningham said. "I don't think it has sunk in yet. What better way to qualify for the Olympics than on the last run."
Cunningham, a Monterey High School graduate, will be a part of the United States' No. 3 four-man bobsled team that will compete next month in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.
The four-man crew not only qualified for the Olympics on its final run, the team earned a World Cup medal with a blistering time in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
"After the race, we had champagne and desserts," Cunningham said. "It was a unique feeling. Many did not think we could qualify, so we had to believe in each other."
Cunningham, who showed up at a tryout in Lake Placid, N.Y., for bobsledders 18 months ago with no experience, is among the fastest brakemen in the world.
Coming to Sunday's final day of competition, the foursome knew the final spot for an Olympic berth was down the No. 3 American foursome and Canada's No. 3 team.
"We had to perform today to earn the spot," Cunningham said. "We had to dig down deep to pull it off. My driver put two good runs together. I wouldn't have asked for it to go any other way."
While the first run was fast, the second run is where Cunningham and his American teammates ran their fastest Advertisement time of the event.
Despite skidding into one of the corners, the foursome avoided crashing, hitting speeds of close to 80mph.
"On any other course, that could have been disastrous," Cunningham said. "From the finish line to the dock is about 200 meters. When I saw the other USA teammates at the finish, I knew I could celebrate."
The United States' No. 3 team will go into the Olympics ranked 15th in the world. Of course, that means little as each course is different.
Cunningham's team will compete this weekend in a World Cup race in Igls, Austria, before returning Jan. 25, where they'll spend a week at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.
Cunningham has trained at the track that will be used for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, calling it a fast and furious course.
"Most tracks, you hit 80mph," Cunningham said. "But on this course, it wouldn't be surprising to see a team hit 100mph. It's a beautiful thing."
As a brakeman, Cunningham is the last man to jump into the bobsled, utilizing his world-class speed to help push a 463-pound sled for up to 60 meters.
Before showing up as a unknown to try out as a brakeman for bobsledding, Cunningham was a sprinter at Boise State, clocking some of the school's fastest times in the 100 and 200 meter sprints.
Cunningham won the 100, 200 and 400 at the Monterey Bay League finals in 2003 as a senior at Monterey, qualifying for the state championships in the 200.
He spent one season at Monterey Peninsula College as a defensive back and dynamic kickoff returner.
While the dream as a 13-year-old was to qualify for the Olympics in track, Cunningham is believed to be the first resident from Monterey County to reach the Winter Olympics.
"This is a dream come true," Cunningham said. "All of the sacrifices have paid off. It's surreal. I still tear up when talking about it. It's beyond me now. This is for my family. I'm just overwhelmed with emotion. This just shows that anything is possible. You have to follow your dream."
This rookie year was a season of learning and growing. I am headed in the right direction and have a lot of my teammates to thank, especially USA 1. Being on tour with them has helped me learn what it takes to compete at the international level as well as be the best sled in the world. I had my chance to compete on the international stage during the World Championships when an unfortunate injury sidelined brakeman Cory Butner on the USA 3 sled. John Napier drove our sled to an 11th place finish at World Championships.
Nick Cunningham was a Brakeman, on the 2010 USA Olympic Bobsled Team. After a long track and field and football career, Cunningham switched to the snow and ice. 
In a borrowed sled, Team Cunningham placed 7th out of 12, piloting his first America's Cup race held April 2. Starting a week after the Olympics' Closing Ceremonies, Nick and his rookie brakeman IsaacFernandez, trained for only 3 weeks in Lake Placid. This was the last race of the season. 
Dec 20, 2009
America's Cup Calgary November 6-9 2008 GOLD 
