At Vancouver 2010 the USA four-man bobsleigh team, led by Steven Holcomb took the gold medal with a historic victory. It was the first time in 62 years since the USA won an Olympic bobsleigh gold, and it all happened at Whistler as their “Night Train” sleigh shot round the track.

Only last year Holcomb won a world title and became the first American in 50 years to do so. It is an even more amazing feat when you consider that only 2 years ago Holcomb had sight-saving surgery for a degenerative eye complaint. At Vancouver the American foursome received a pooled four-heat time of 3min, 24.46sec. The German team led by Andre Lange won the silver medal, while following in third place winning bronze was Canada headed by Lyndon Rush.

The track was proving tricky on Friday with six more crashes, but on Saturday the rainy conditions meant the track was slower. Five teams had already pulled out of the event before the opening heats because of the track complexity and speed, and on the final day another four teams did not start. The devastatingly fast track is now notorious for the death in pre-tournament training of the Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvilli, on the opening day of the Winter Olympics.

According to Vancouver2010.com, Steven Holcomb and the rest of his team waved flags and their helmets at the finish with Holcomb saying “It’s huge, it’s great”. Have you been inspired by this Winter Olympics or impressed with the dedication of the athletes?