U of L Pronghorn alumnus headed to Beijing Olympic

Feb 1, 2022 | 11:09 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A University of Lethbridge Pronghorn Track and Field alumnus is all set to make his Olympic dream come true.

Ryan Sommer is a member of the Canadian Olympic Bobsled team set to compete in Beijing, China.

He said, “it has been a surreal few weeks since the team was announced, and it’s finally starting to sink in now that I am finally here in the Olympic Village.”

“This year was incredibly tense with the looming fear of missing the games due to uncertainty of what a positive COVID test could mean for an athlete, but my team managed to finish the World Cup with a silver, crystal globe and a lot of confidence.”

Sommer made his national team debut during the 2017-2018 season with the development team and joined the World Cup circuit full-time for the 2018-2019 campaign. He has raced in every single four-man event since, with 2018 gold medallist Justin Kripps and fellow teammates Cam Stones and Ben Coakwell.

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Sommer was a member of the 2019 IBSF World Championship bronze medal winning sled. After a five-year track and field career with the Pronghorns, he went on to fight forest fires in northern Alberta. In the summer of 2016, he attended an open bobsled tryout in Richmond, B.C.

Coming out of the open tryout with a newly cemented interest in the spot, Sommer competed in the RBC training ground with the hopes of getting recognized and impressing the Bobsled Canada staff. He started his competitive bobsled journey with the Alberta provincial team in 2016.

The four-man bobsled event at the Games in Beijing begins on Friday, February 18.

by Justin Goulet