2002 winter olympics

Fastest bobsled speed
2002 olympics location
Bobsleigh track

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Flowers, Vonetta 1973–

Olympic bobsledder

At a Glance…

Sources

Though she did not know it at the time, no African American had ever won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics until Vonetta Flowers took home the gold in 2002 at the Salt Lake City, Utah, Winter Olympic games. Flowers earned the medal when she pushed a 450-pound bobsled down an icy track to victory in the sport’s inaugural women’s Olympic event. She had long dreamed of winning an Olympic gold medal, but had never imagined herself winning in the snow and cold of Salt Lake City. She had spent her lifetime training and competing in track and field events, but she quickly adapted to the cold in order to take a shot on the first-ever women’s Olympic bobsled team.

Flowers was born October 29, 1973, in Birmingham, Alabama. She and her three brothers lived with their mother, Bobbie Jeffries, after their parents divorced. She had always dreamed of winning a gold medal, but thought she would accomplish it in track and field in the long jump. At age nine, Flowers ran a 50-yard dash that was so f

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Vonetta Flowers Speaker Biography

First-Ever African American Athlete to Win a Winter Olympics Gold Medal

On February 19, 2002, people in Alabama were glued to their TV’s, curious to see how the state’s only bobsledder would perform against the rest of the world. In less than 1 minute 48 seconds, tears of joy began to flow, because the young woman from Birmingham, Alabama who dared to try an untraditional sport had left her permanent foot prints in the snow by becoming the 1st person of African descent to win a Gold Medal in the Winter Olympics. People from all over the world soon became familiar with the story of how a little girl’s dream of competing in the Summer Olympics led her to tryout for the U.S. Women’s Olympic Bobsled Team. In only 18 months after answering a help wanted ad, she would win the inaugural bobsled event and shatter the racial barrier in the process. Many were shocked to discover the struggles she encountered, others were encouraged by the sacrifices she made and all were inspired by her determination to pu

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The first person of African descent, male or female, to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics was Vonetta Flowers when she won gold in the women’s bobsled event in 2002 at Salt Lake City.

Born October 29, 1973, in Birmingham, Alabama, to Jimmie Jeffrey, a maintenance director for a trucking company, and Bobbie Jeffrey, a hotel maid, Vonetta Jeffrey had a dream of Olympic gold, but in track and field. After beating all other students in a race at Jonesboro Elementary School, Flowers began competing in track and field events. She ran track at P.D. Jackson Olin High School as well as playing on the volleyball and basketball teams. As a high school senior, Flowers won four track and field events at the Alabama State Championships and several colleges offered her athletic scholarships.

Flowers graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1995. While at college, she met Johnny Flowers, a fellow freshman member of the track team and her future husband. The son of a minister, Johnny Flowers encouraged Vonetta’s involvement in church and she became a born-again