Good Afternoon everyone, I really do not have an update at the moment but I just wanted to say thank you all for your continued support of me! Happy Mittwoch!
Sincerely
Jesse B
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
Training and Meeting with my Big Hommie from the Chi!
Training
The month of August is almost at an end along with my summer
training in Colorado Springs. I will be heading out to Lake Placid, NY September
9th to finish my final preparations for Push Championships and the
start of the season. To date my training is going great!!! My coach and I have
started timing my sprints, measuring my jumps and my throws for the events I
will be tested, I’m happy to report that my practice testing numbers have improved
from last year at this same time. I am extremely excited to display my hard
work and get back to competing! Speaking of competing please follow this link
to see the World Cup Schedule http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Bobsled-and-Skeleton-Federation/Events.aspx
As to not bore you with tales of ungodly
amounts of weight that I throw around the weight room and how I created several
sonic booms while sprinting or that I jumped over THE MOON…Twice! I will share
the story below.
Meeting with my
Big Hommie from the Chi (a.k.a Chicago)!
I had to share
this Story!!!
Thursday August 9, 2012 started of like any other day. I
woke up stretched, ate breakfast, took a
few supplements and headed into the weight room. I hopped on the stationary
bike for about ten minutes, and then began my normal thirty minute dynamic
warm-up. Being that I’m pretty good at what I do my work out went smoothly! Lol
No but seriously I’m a beast with it! The other day one of the tourist who
visited the training center saw me lifting and started SCREAMING out Gayaka!
Gayaka! Since they just saw me Movin Monster Type Weight, the police were on
their way until they were told “Stand Down! Stand Down! It’s just Jesse in the
weight room again and he scared another tourist!” lol And Yes there is
something seriously wrong with me!
I….Knoooowww!
Sorry I got off track again.
In the middle of my workout my Coach Eric reminded me
that President Obama would be speaking down the road today at Colorado College then
jokingly asked me if I was going to go listen to him speak. I told him I would
like to but I did not have a ticket nor did I have a clue on how to get a
ticket. As I continued my workout I just had a feeling that somehow I would end
up getting a ticket to hear the President speak, possibly getting to shake his
hand at some point. Honestly I have no idea why I felt this way but for some
reason I just saw everything falling into place. True to form just as I was
finishing up my work out one of my friends and tour guides at the training enter
walked in, asks me if I wanted a ticket to go hear the President speak!
Evidently he had earned a ticket from volunteering but was unable to make use
of it due to work. Of course I accepted the ticket, I mean come on people destiny
was revealing itself and who am I to stand in its way! Lol
I arrived at Colorado College around 12:20 pm; the scene was what to be expected with a line of people extending at least five blocks. Initially I was worried that I may miss the president speak, until a volunteer told me that his speech would not start till 2pm. Standing in line was definitely not the highlight of my day although the line moved along rather quickly. I think this was partly to do with my amusement/amazement at the stories and arguments from those people who saw this as a great opportunity to petition for the legalization of Cannabis.
Making my way back to my car I ran into Darrin Steel CEO
of USBSF, which led to a twenty minute conversation about training and general
bobsled dynamics that I will not bore you all with. The conversation was productive;
afterwards we both left to meet destiny head on!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
July Update 2012
Where do I begin, do I start with the alien abduction story explaining to you all how
escaped there evil clutches then how I single handedly saved the Galaxy by taking out 10,000 alien invaders and….the mother ship you all did not know existed or do I talk about only my training? Hmmmm…..decisions decisions. Well guess I will talk about training but you are welcome for saying your lives and no, no I don’t need a parade or 100 foot statue erected in my honor but thank you!
My Training My training is going really well! I’m super excited about the upcoming season! My coach and I had numerous talks about my training schedule; we’ve decided to follow the same schedule as last year since we both felt that I was extremely prepared for the season. I’m feeling strong in the weight room and so so fast and explosive on the track! For my weight training I’m lifting the same amount of weight as last year, but now I am moving it at a faster rate! During my sprints my heel recovery is lower; my foot strike is more under my COM (center of mass) and my upper body angle is also improving as I run. I would talk a little more in detail about what I have been doing in training but I don’t want to give all my super-duper training tips away, well not in one huge e-mail anyways! But some of my training may have included a bungee cord possibly a parachute or two and more! However you are in luck, if you start following me on
Twitter @jessbeck3 you will gain a little more access to what I’m doing for my running and lifting…along with the fun randomness that is Jesse Beckom III you all have come to love or put up with! Lol
I will tell you this, in preparations for this year’s Push Championships that are going to be held in October; I will be training on the Lake Placid Push Track from July 14th-28th with my teammates World Championships so that we can continue working on our timing.
National Team Camp Our Annual training camp has come
and gone, but I have to say it was the best one to date!!! The Team atmosphere was excellent, it was a bit exhausting at times but the energy was really positive. There was a ton of team bonding in the form of team competitions, community outreach, and just generally getting to know a little more about each other. One of the team events was a relay race, where we (coaches, staff, and athletes) were split into two teams and we
had to move a stack of four twenty-five kilo plates along with two twenty kilo plates
and restack them five yards away. After that we had to sprint to a hurdle where we had to throw a twenty pound med ball over the top of the hurdle then squat under the hurdle throw the med ball over the top again, we did this five times before moving to the last station. The last station was a 60 kilos for ten yards at a high push position and for ten yards at a lower push position then a 30 yard sprint back to the finish to tag the next person! You would think it would be easy….It was not for most! After the prowler push high and low everyone’s legs were completely blown but no one really knew it…until they started to run and fell over!! It was hilarious, some people were crawling, stumbling, falling multiple times, lunging, skipping anything they could to try and get across the line tag the next person it was beyond comical!
We were also involved in a few different community events, but I will only mention a couple. The first was an Olympic day where 200 or more kids were on campus and we took them through a shortened version of our combine test. We tested their vertical jump, long jump, and how fast they were in fifteen meters; the kids loved it and we also had a blast! At the end we gave out gold medals and stickers to all the kids there. We all had a good time, it was pretty funny watching the kids trying to cheat to get a higher jump then they actually did. It was also funny to see the kids go from laughing to competitive mode once they start hearing each other’s numbers, then it was game on!! It reminded me of our team because it’s all fun and games until the timing eyes come out then it’s me or you and I want to win!! Soooo….guess it’s going to be me!!
Another event we did was held at a local boys and girls club that one of the bobsled women works at during the summer. Our mission if choose to accept it was to give these kids an ideal of what it’s like to compete in Bobsled and Skeleton. In order to do this we took them through a few of our testing invents which included a standing long jump, 15m sprint, and my favorite a race on these small rolling dolly’s; Me and JQ (one of my sled mates from World Championships) ran this station!!! We renamed it "Station Awwwesoommee!" Boom! How did we pull of such a fantastic feat demonstrating bobsled and skeleton in a gym you ask?? Well hold your horses Big JB3 will explain! The dolly’s we used were about a 13"x13" square; to demonstrate bobsled we had one kid sit on two of them with legs extended while another kid held on to their shoulders and pushed them forward. For skeleton we used the same principal but this time with the kids lying on their stomachs with their feet bent so the other kid can push them!!! The kids had a great time,
but I think me and JQ may have had more fun because we got to demonstrate this four different times for each group that rotated through. Despite a couple of near head to head collisions and head to wall collisions it was successful. So who wants me to babysit? Lol
During our Team Camp we also
focus on how we can improve physically as an athlete; this includes focusing on our diet, weight training, and our Push/Sprint technique. To help us with our sprint mechanics our federation brought in Dr.Mann who is a track and field guru that helps to coach America’s fastest Olympic Sprinters! This man knows his stuff! In short he explained to
us how they had recently discovered that what we thought we knew and had been
taught about sprint mechanics for the past ten years was Wrong!! Yeah my thoughts exactly! He explained the information they found, showing us the research including diagrams, and charts that illustrated their findings. Afterwards we hit the running track, where Dr. Mann began to teach us these sprint mechanics along with drills to help reinforce them. He recorded each one of us as we sprinted past high speed cameras, then as he watched the playback he critiqued each one of us showing us where and how to make improvements! For me this was my favorite part of the camp. There were a few other things that happened but nothing too exciting.
Waldon Canyon Fire victim’s day at ITZ As I’m sure you all heard about all the wild fires in Colorado Springs and the surrounding area; about 350 homes were lost and about 7 people were killed. Luckily the fire was far enough from the training center that we were not displaced. However in other parts the scene looked like a clip from Armageddon complete with blackish reddish smoke filled skies, congested highways and emergency vehicles. Thank God the first responders were on top of it all, even to the extent that some of the firemen slept on the streets in sleeping bags of the affected neighborhoods because they did not want to leave the area and waste time coming back in the morning. I don’t know about you but that is some serious dedication!! I also have to give credit to the USOC for being a Red Cross evacuee center in times of emergency. The Olympic Training Center allowed families that were evacuated to stay at the training center, they also set up clothing, food, and toy donation drives for these families.
After the fires were pretty much under control I was included in a group of athletes who were asked to come to a family fun day at ITZ (Similar to Chuck E Chesses), to help lift the spirits of the families that were displaced by the fires. Members of the Denver Broncos, Fire Men, Police Officers along with other civic workers that had been battling the fire were all present to help encourage these families in their time of need. We signed pictures for the kids and played several different games with them as well, overall I would say the evening was a success. I and the other athletes definitely enjoyed hanging out with these families and sharing our story with them, but it was truly a humbling experience. I cannot express how honored I felt when one of the fireman who had been fighting these fires every day shook my hand, wished me luck, and was proud to have me representing our country! All I could think is that this man’s career is to save lives and all I do is slide down an Icy Hill and try to be the fastest at it! So in my eyes Fireman, Policeman, Doctors, Nurses, Soldiers and the like
jobs are way important than what I have done and for those that do it right, they are the ones who truly represent our country to the fullest!!
London 2012!!! I may or may not have mentioned this
before but one of the biggest thrills for me as I train is having my friends from other sports train alongside of me. Then watching them as they go through their Olympic Trials and make it to the Games!! That being said be sure to check out the
2012 London Olympic Games and you can see 24/7 coverage on Universal
Sports www.universalsports.com or on the Universal Sports Channel!!!
GO AMERICA!!!! AMERICA!!!! MERICA!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOHOOOO!
YEAH!!!!
P.S
Pictures will be posted by the weekend on my web-page under "July Update
2012"
Sincerely
Jesse
www.jessebeckom3.com
Twitter: @Jessbeck3
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
June Summer Update
Oh YEAH it’s that time again, I’m ready for some Blogging how about you!!?
You know before I began writing this last update I have to admit that…I was afraid….I was petrified….. and I just kept thinkin' I could never live without bobsled by my side; But then I spent so many nights thinkin' how it did me wrong…And you know what!? I grew strong…. and I LEARNED HOW TO GET ALONG AND NOW I’M BACK FROM OUTER SPACE!! Ok I’m done!! Lol
After world championships I remained in Lake Placid to help some of the younger guy get ready for the America’s Cup Races that were scheduled for late March. While in Placid I continue to train for a few more weeks because being in Placid and not training just makes time go by sooo slooooowly! Well that was until my body hit a wall and I stopped working out completely for a good two weeks…ok maybe I rode the bike for a little bit (45 min or so depending on the night) and maybe I did sit-ups in my room (a couple of hundred or so) but other than that I did not work out. lol
Towards the end of March I hoped a plane out here to Colorado Springs to begin MY summer training in preparations for the 2012-2013 World Cup Season. Upon arriving in Colorado Springs I began a really lite training regime to help increase my cardio and maintain my strength. The training I was doing was really lite and mainly consisted of running on the treadmill, biking, and some cosmetic lifting. I will say this though the pre training I did definitely paid off because I just finished up my first 3wk block of heavy training along with 1 down week of training, and I feel GREAT!! I know it’s early in the off-season but things are clicking, I just pray that I keep making gains as the summer progresses because if that happens….look out!!
In order to increase my overall versatility I decided to learn how to Ice Skate, Rollerblade, play the Guitar and have been doing yoga; basically I’m stepping my game up all around.
I do have one funny story to share with you all! We’ll call it “Adventures in Your Average Weight Room” Allow me to set the mood if you will…this past Saturday I worked out in your typical city weight room that is attended by your average Joe/Jill making sure they look good for the beach, which I can respect. This particular training facility had several different rooms dedicated to weight training. The first area had your typical barbells, some dumbbells, and free weight racks, while the second room had dumbbell racks along with some universal gym machines, stability balls, BOSU Balls, and jumping platforms. The story begins with me in the first weight room where I was doing some stability ball lateral shoulder raises when this happens.
Guy: Comes over and says hey you mind giving me a spot on bench?
Me: Sure no problem. But as I walk over to the bench I see the guy has 315lbs on the bench! As I am sizing this guy up I am thinking this is going to be good! lol This guy was about my height maybe about 215, box built and a bit chubby but you can tell he thought he was jacked by the way he walked.
Me: How many you reps you going for? Guy: About 4 or 5 Me: Ok! You call it! Guy: 1,2,3 I help him lift it off the rack! And OMG on the first rep this guy arcs his back about a foot off the bench! He looks like a freaking Rainbow!! I thought his back was going to break! Then he proceeds to bench bringing the bar about two inches down from where the rack was hitting his chest that was arced so high it could hit the ceiling!
Me: My facial expression I know had to be classic because of the weight lifting atrocity that was being perpetrated before my eyes.
Guy: Is struggling on the first lift and tries to squeeze out two more looking at me to curl the weight up for him
Me: Screaming Come on Dawg push you can do it! Lol all the while I’m thinking hey you asked me to spot you not lift the weight for you because I don’t do that!
Guy: Racks it the weight after barely getting
Me: How much weight do you normally press?
Guy: I usually do this(315lb) three set of five
Me: Really!? Well you want to drop down to 275lb and try that?
Guy: Well I’ll go to 295lb and do that, but the other day I did Squats and my Traps are a bit sore but I should be good to bench! Lol I mean its been five days since I squatted I should be good! I don’t know what’s going on with me today
Me: Ok…..looking at the guy sarcastically
Me: just staring at him like Really?…. Really Man?…your traps are sore from squats which caused you not to bench as much as usual!? Yeah ok. No I did not tell him that I was just thinking it! Lol
Guy: Loads 295lbs on the bar and once again Rainbow Brite shows up on the bench trying to lift weight way above his ability! And once again he look at me expecting me to curl the weight up for him
Me: looking down at him as to say if you can’t get the weight don’t expect me to do it for you so either lift it or rack it! And yes I can say a ton of phrases with my eyes. Lol Guy: Racks the weight, explaining how it’s an off day
Me: Oh ok yeah as I walk away to finish my work out! You would think that this debacle would come to an end, but like most train wrecks it just kept going on! After leaving Mr. Can’t Bench Right! I went into the second lifting room to do some inverted pushups, when Mr. No Bench comes in and hope on the incline bench (which is directly in my line of sight) and proceeds to grab two 100lb dumbbells and tries to bench them!! YEAH I DON’T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THIS GUYS HEAD! So of course he does the rainbow technique and barely gets five reps, but that does not stop him from going for a second set! After he gets up from the bench he looks at me, kind of rotates his arms a bit as to show he is sore and walks out the weight room!....Yeah it does not stop there. I go back in to the other weight room to finish up on some abdominal work. And to my chagrin this guy is not doing decline bench press! He starts off with 275lb and after doing his back bending technique again and barely getting it for a set of four he decides to put 295lb on the bar. All I could think is please do not ask me to spot you and your terrible form again. I guess he did not hear my mental plea because sure enough he asks me to spot him again. At this point I have seen enough and since I have been taught buy some great strength coaches I can no longer be involved in this mess………
Me: Listen Dawg you can take this personally and ask someone else to spot you or you can put your ego aside and learn something from what I will show you but I am not going to spot you until you take some of the weight of the bar and change your form because you are going to hurt yourself and I will not be a part of it.
Guy: Ok well show me
Me: How long have you been lifting? Guy: 5yrs, and you?
Me: About 17yrs…Ok forget everything you know about benching I’m going to show you the right way! I proceed to take the weight down to 225lbs(the weight I figured he should be able to do) demonstrate how he was lifting then showed him how to keep his back on the bench, feet flat on the ground and bring the bar down to his chest and not bring his chest up to the bar. I then explained to him that when it comes to lifting we all have to put our ego aside because technique is more important and the ability to lift heavier weight will come in time. He seemed to take my words to heart and I seriously hope he did otherwise he will have a bulged disk pretty soon.
That’s all for now and remember check me out on Twitter @jessbeck3
Sincerely, Jesse
You know before I began writing this last update I have to admit that…I was afraid….I was petrified….. and I just kept thinkin' I could never live without bobsled by my side; But then I spent so many nights thinkin' how it did me wrong…And you know what!? I grew strong…. and I LEARNED HOW TO GET ALONG AND NOW I’M BACK FROM OUTER SPACE!! Ok I’m done!! Lol
After world championships I remained in Lake Placid to help some of the younger guy get ready for the America’s Cup Races that were scheduled for late March. While in Placid I continue to train for a few more weeks because being in Placid and not training just makes time go by sooo slooooowly! Well that was until my body hit a wall and I stopped working out completely for a good two weeks…ok maybe I rode the bike for a little bit (45 min or so depending on the night) and maybe I did sit-ups in my room (a couple of hundred or so) but other than that I did not work out. lol
Towards the end of March I hoped a plane out here to Colorado Springs to begin MY summer training in preparations for the 2012-2013 World Cup Season. Upon arriving in Colorado Springs I began a really lite training regime to help increase my cardio and maintain my strength. The training I was doing was really lite and mainly consisted of running on the treadmill, biking, and some cosmetic lifting. I will say this though the pre training I did definitely paid off because I just finished up my first 3wk block of heavy training along with 1 down week of training, and I feel GREAT!! I know it’s early in the off-season but things are clicking, I just pray that I keep making gains as the summer progresses because if that happens….look out!!
In order to increase my overall versatility I decided to learn how to Ice Skate, Rollerblade, play the Guitar and have been doing yoga; basically I’m stepping my game up all around.
I do have one funny story to share with you all! We’ll call it “Adventures in Your Average Weight Room” Allow me to set the mood if you will…this past Saturday I worked out in your typical city weight room that is attended by your average Joe/Jill making sure they look good for the beach, which I can respect. This particular training facility had several different rooms dedicated to weight training. The first area had your typical barbells, some dumbbells, and free weight racks, while the second room had dumbbell racks along with some universal gym machines, stability balls, BOSU Balls, and jumping platforms. The story begins with me in the first weight room where I was doing some stability ball lateral shoulder raises when this happens.
Guy: Comes over and says hey you mind giving me a spot on bench?
Me: Sure no problem. But as I walk over to the bench I see the guy has 315lbs on the bench! As I am sizing this guy up I am thinking this is going to be good! lol This guy was about my height maybe about 215, box built and a bit chubby but you can tell he thought he was jacked by the way he walked.
Me: How many you reps you going for? Guy: About 4 or 5 Me: Ok! You call it! Guy: 1,2,3 I help him lift it off the rack! And OMG on the first rep this guy arcs his back about a foot off the bench! He looks like a freaking Rainbow!! I thought his back was going to break! Then he proceeds to bench bringing the bar about two inches down from where the rack was hitting his chest that was arced so high it could hit the ceiling!
Me: My facial expression I know had to be classic because of the weight lifting atrocity that was being perpetrated before my eyes.
Guy: Is struggling on the first lift and tries to squeeze out two more looking at me to curl the weight up for him
Me: Screaming Come on Dawg push you can do it! Lol all the while I’m thinking hey you asked me to spot you not lift the weight for you because I don’t do that!
Guy: Racks it the weight after barely getting
Me: How much weight do you normally press?
Guy: I usually do this(315lb) three set of five
Me: Really!? Well you want to drop down to 275lb and try that?
Guy: Well I’ll go to 295lb and do that, but the other day I did Squats and my Traps are a bit sore but I should be good to bench! Lol I mean its been five days since I squatted I should be good! I don’t know what’s going on with me today
Me: Ok…..looking at the guy sarcastically
Me: just staring at him like Really?…. Really Man?…your traps are sore from squats which caused you not to bench as much as usual!? Yeah ok. No I did not tell him that I was just thinking it! Lol
Guy: Loads 295lbs on the bar and once again Rainbow Brite shows up on the bench trying to lift weight way above his ability! And once again he look at me expecting me to curl the weight up for him
Me: looking down at him as to say if you can’t get the weight don’t expect me to do it for you so either lift it or rack it! And yes I can say a ton of phrases with my eyes. Lol Guy: Racks the weight, explaining how it’s an off day
Me: Oh ok yeah as I walk away to finish my work out! You would think that this debacle would come to an end, but like most train wrecks it just kept going on! After leaving Mr. Can’t Bench Right! I went into the second lifting room to do some inverted pushups, when Mr. No Bench comes in and hope on the incline bench (which is directly in my line of sight) and proceeds to grab two 100lb dumbbells and tries to bench them!! YEAH I DON’T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THIS GUYS HEAD! So of course he does the rainbow technique and barely gets five reps, but that does not stop him from going for a second set! After he gets up from the bench he looks at me, kind of rotates his arms a bit as to show he is sore and walks out the weight room!....Yeah it does not stop there. I go back in to the other weight room to finish up on some abdominal work. And to my chagrin this guy is not doing decline bench press! He starts off with 275lb and after doing his back bending technique again and barely getting it for a set of four he decides to put 295lb on the bar. All I could think is please do not ask me to spot you and your terrible form again. I guess he did not hear my mental plea because sure enough he asks me to spot him again. At this point I have seen enough and since I have been taught buy some great strength coaches I can no longer be involved in this mess………
Me: Listen Dawg you can take this personally and ask someone else to spot you or you can put your ego aside and learn something from what I will show you but I am not going to spot you until you take some of the weight of the bar and change your form because you are going to hurt yourself and I will not be a part of it.
Guy: Ok well show me
Me: How long have you been lifting? Guy: 5yrs, and you?
Me: About 17yrs…Ok forget everything you know about benching I’m going to show you the right way! I proceed to take the weight down to 225lbs(the weight I figured he should be able to do) demonstrate how he was lifting then showed him how to keep his back on the bench, feet flat on the ground and bring the bar down to his chest and not bring his chest up to the bar. I then explained to him that when it comes to lifting we all have to put our ego aside because technique is more important and the ability to lift heavier weight will come in time. He seemed to take my words to heart and I seriously hope he did otherwise he will have a bulged disk pretty soon.
That’s all for now and remember check me out on Twitter @jessbeck3
Sincerely, Jesse
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Relaxing!!
Happy Sunday Everyone,
Well its now officially the off-season!!!! I head back out to the OTC in Colorado Springs Monday April 2nd for about a month of down time before I begin my summer training regiment in preparations for next season! I'm really looking forward to having a few weekends off, allowing my body to recover mentally, physically and emotionally from this past season.
I will also be soliciting financial and product sponsors (training gear, sports drink, accessories, apparel etc.) to help me in my journey for Sochi. If you know of any company's and or individuals that would like to be part of the fueling force that will help me achieve my dream of becoming a 2014 Winter Olympian please forward them my e-mail jbeckomiii@yahoo.com so they can contact me to work out the details.
God Bless,I wish you all the best!!
P.S
Thank you for continuing to follow me and your e-mails of encouragement,I enjoy reading them all.
Jesse
Well its now officially the off-season!!!! I head back out to the OTC in Colorado Springs Monday April 2nd for about a month of down time before I begin my summer training regiment in preparations for next season! I'm really looking forward to having a few weekends off, allowing my body to recover mentally, physically and emotionally from this past season.
I will also be soliciting financial and product sponsors (training gear, sports drink, accessories, apparel etc.) to help me in my journey for Sochi. If you know of any company's and or individuals that would like to be part of the fueling force that will help me achieve my dream of becoming a 2014 Winter Olympian please forward them my e-mail jbeckomiii@yahoo.com so they can contact me to work out the details.
God Bless,I wish you all the best!!
P.S
Thank you for continuing to follow me and your e-mails of encouragement,I enjoy reading them all.
Jesse
Sunday, March 11, 2012
2012 World Championships Update
Hello!, Hola!, Wie Ghets!, What up!, Privet!, Konichiwa!
After a year of constantly being tested and doubted it was finally World Championships week! World Championships format is the same as the Olympic Games where you have a week dedicated for 2-Man training and a week dedicated to 4-Man training both ending with a two day/four heat race on Saturday and Sunday.
In preparations for Worlds USA 1 and USA 2 had both spent two weeks in Lake Placid working on timing and training together as we had planned at the beginning of the season and now it was time to reap the benefits!!! However we were waiting for the USA 3 and USA 4 teams respectively to come back from racing in Whistler and Calgary before the official announcement was made. On February 20th we had a team meeting to officially announce the teams racing World Championships which we already knew but like I said it’s a formality. Todd Hays announces the Women’s Team by name and sled rank, Tuffy (Skeleton Head Coach) announces the Men’s and Women’s Skeleton Athlete by name and sled rank, Shimer (Men’s Head Bobsled Coach) announces the 2-Man Teams racing by name and sled rank; he then announces the 4-man Team of USA 1 by name and then for USA 2 and USA 3 he announces the drivers by name and then the Pool of Push Athletes to be racing!! It was at that moment that me and everyone else in the room knew another curve ball was coming……..! All I could do was sit back and think Here We Go Again!!
Coach Shimer dismisses everyone in the room except the members of USA 2 and USA 3, after its just us in the rooms he announces that the Selection Committee would like to see one more race of between myself and Chuck (A good push athlete and former 2010 Olympian who had done two races this year in Canada with USA 3) to compare push times and sled velocity. Warning- some of my frustrations may come out in the e-mail! It was a surprise to everyone in the room!! It was like getting hit with a sucker punch to the gut when you don’t know you were even in a fight till after the impact!! I felt pretty disrespected by the whole thing especially since I had been taking the lead on my team to work on ridding positions, dry loads, and running positions all to help make us faster at the load and increase our velocity. Not to mention that I did finish Fourth in push championships (higher than any other push athlete on USA 2) and have passed every single test and race-off I was put through this year and yet again in the eleventh hour I would be tested yet again for what to me and other did not seem logical especially when you look at the numbers! But once again I could not take any action of protest without looking like I’m not a team player so I had to suck it up and get prepared for a race-off I would have in a week. If you could have x-rayed me at that moment you would see Two Supernovas colliding inside of me creating and Extinction Level Event I was so HOTT!! To me and other athletes it was like if the Super Bowl was a week away and the Head Coach Announces to the team that we are thinking about switching out one of our starting receivers because we think this replacement may be better even though he only played two games this year. It just did not make sense so much that every other member of team USA male and female, medical staff, housekeeping and hell members of foreign countries ask what was going on and how does this make any sense!? I had no answer, only thing I knew was that once again I was being tested and once again I knew I was ready to beat whoever they put in my way! I had trained all off-season to be ready for whatever challenge thrown my way and the coach I worked with in Colorado Springs this summer had me on point!! Furthermore not only did this race-off affect me it also affected every other member of USA 2 because now instead of having a grueling two days/four heats of racing we now essentially had three days/six heats of racing not to mention having lifting schedules and timing issues that can occur because of situations like this.
As I mentioned the first week of World Championships is dedicated to 2-Man races for Women and Men in that order!!! I thrilled to say that it was a great week of racing for Team USA!!! The USA 1 Team of Elana Meyers (2010 Bronze Medalist Pusher turn driver) and Katie Eberling (2011 Push Champion and Rookie) took the Bronze for women at Worlds!!! And not to be out done the USA 1 Team of Steve Holcomb (2010 Gold Medal Driver) and Steve Langton (2011 World Push Champion) to the Gold Medal, which was the First Time In History that American has won during the 2-Man World Championship Races!!! Yup it was a historical day for the USA.
The next week it was finally time to put away the little sleds and Break out the Big Boi’s….It was 4-Man Week Baby and all the teams of the World were ready to get after it! But before I could really get loose with it and do my thing I had to deal with a race-off/push off that against a Mr. Chuck Berkley for my spot on USA 2! Now for the record there is no animosity between me and chuck or really any push athletes but sometimes we are pitted against one another whether it makes sense or not. And in this instance those making the decision thought in order to help USA 2 the best possible push that it would be best to race me off on the sled because somehow I got pegged as a possible weak link or I had bad ridding position. This is besides the fact that on my sled I finished the highest in Push Championships 4th and the other pushers 6th and 12th, also that every other race-off or hard push session I had so far this year I WON!, or that when I was taken of the 4-Man Sled in France for a race the USA 2 team pushed slower compared to the field then they had all year, combined with two man testing in placid which showed I had great ridding velocity, added to the fact that I lead the charge on my team when it came to working on loading into the sled and ridding position to increase our velocity!! Not to mention that the possibility of changing out the members of a crew so close before the biggest race of the year disrupts team cohesion and timing. But once again I somehow was the one in doubt and need to race-off once more. But like I said who am I to judge what makes sense or not so based on the facts I just mentioned I will let you all determine that for yourselves. I do not that during that week several athletes from different countries ask me what type of craziness was happening on my team?, members of team USA asked me the same and so did everyone from the cooks in the kitchen, people in sports med and hell even the house keepers than not understand the logic in it. But, it was whatever for me because no matter what, Evidently I will be tested at any and every from here until the Olympic Team is named in 2014 and who knows I might even need a Lawyer on call then to make sure the numbers I have that year are not ignored!!! (I think I may a mentioned a bit of my frustration coming through in this e-mail!! lol)
When the race-off was first announced a few of the members of Team USA approached me and said “I hope you don’t get sand bagged by someone!” If you are wondering Sand Bagging is when an individual does not put forth 100% effort when they push, in football we call it loafing on the field and when you see it on film it is obvious and embarrassing for the person who is guilty of it. I kind of disregarded the comment because it was something I did not want to think about, especially since my coach this summer had worked hard to help me understand that “All I can do is control my own performance and I can’t worry about what others are doing it” and that is how I was approaching this situation. I will tell you that just like every time when I race that I prayed that God’s will be done and that I perform to my best because I know my best can’t be beaten!!
Going into the race-off I elected to push second because for me It had felt like some forces beyond my control were trying to get me off the sled all year and I wanted to make sure that everyone involved were properly warmed up. Sorry if I have gotten ahead of myself……The way a 4-man race of works is that the persons in question each take one push with the other members of the sled they are trying to get on or stay on. In this instance Chuck would do one push with USA 2 and I would do one push with USA 2. In this case the selection committee was looking at start time and velocity down the hill to see if it was a need to change me out for Chuck. It’s not the most scientific method in the World because of all the possible variables involved but as of now that’s the process we have. The day (Wednesday) of the race off-came and thankfully the weather was cooperating…..well so I thought. Things were going as planned, Chuck and the guys went first and they pushed a 5.13 which was pretty good. It actually got me pretty excited because I knew I could push faster. My warm-up was going great I was getting deep in my zone and then it went from clear blue skies to gray skies and snow, not just flurries either but full out snowing that would last a day or more. I was like great!!! Lol but I still trusted in my abilities not worrying about the snow I just knew I need to push hard and let the numbers speak for themselves. It was finally my time to push! I stepped on to the block with the USA 2 squad I had pushed with all year. I was ready to put in some more work and prove my worth once again like I had been doing all year!! The hit felt good and I was in perfect position coming off the block. I got to the bottom and both Chris and Adam felt like the timing on the hit and push felt great we were surprised that the start time even with the snow was 5.19, obliviously .06 slower than the push they had with Chuck. Now in real world time this is a very small number but in the World of bobsled I had just got dog walked and put out to pasture!!! I was not happy but at the same time in the back of my mind and in other minds (I would find out later) to get beat by .06 in a 4-man race-off just did not seem possible unless other factors were involved. Especially since me and Chuck both figured that it would be either .01 or .02 of a difference between us one way or another. But the numbers were what they were and that’s what the selection committee would be looking at.
Later that night I was called up to the coaches’ office to meet with the selection committee and hear what decision they had made. They informed me that they had looked at the video from the back and front of the sled at the start and although the sled velocity was better with me that they could not overlook the .06 difference at the start and that Chuck would replace me on USA 2 and I would race with USA 3 for World Championships!! Based on the days results I knew it was coming but it was still unsettling to hear. I told the selection committee thank you for your time and that I am still going to push as hard as ever to try and win this race and left the office.
I initially went back to my room but for some reason I felt a need to walk around the training center to blow off some steam!!...and thank God I did! As I walked around I ran into a teammate who sarcastically congratulated me on been railroaded onto USA 3!! I immediately said “WHAT!” (but deep down I was thinking yeah but I can’t prove anything) Then my teammate asked me if I had seen the video? I said no. He said well I have to show you this video I took because Jesse you got sand bagged pretty bad! I told him to show it to me! The video he showed me was a side angle of the sled and a view that the Selection Committee had not seen and did not know existed!!! When he showed it to me it was so bad and blatant all inadvertently laughed and shook my head. He told me yeah I know man it’s bad!! I copied the video from him and showed it to my Athlete Reps who deal with athlete issues along with other members of the National Team to make sure I was not seeing what I wanted because it would benefit me and they all agreed that I need to show this video to our Coaches and CEO because it was not fair. As you could imagine I prayed long and hard that night to decided what course of action and the type of resolution I was looking for.
The Friday before the race I arranged a meeting with my Head Coach, CEO and Athlete Reps to show the video I was blessed with receiving. Their response was similar to my response when I saw the video. Both I and my athlete reps expressed their concern for what was on the video and everyone in the room were in agreement that for the integrity of our sport that things like this can’t be allowed to happened. The fact that sand bagging had happened during World Championship made it worse because if unpunished what stops it from happening Olympic Year!? Not only that but what little funding we do get and our ranking for housing depends on World Championships as well. So basically my lively hood had been put in jeopardy by the selfish actions of another who wanted someone else on a sled other than me!!! I presented those facts to my coach and CEO stating that based on new video evidence no one can claim I lost that race-off or that chuck is better than me pushing and that although I am pushing for USA 3 my status as a USA 2 brakeman within the federation would still stand. I was happy that they agreed and assured me that neither my funding nor housing status would change. I also informed them that I had no desire to race with the current USA 2 sled for Worlds because obviously from the actions shown on the video I was not wanted on the team; and that I was happy to race with the USA 3 squad because they were excited to have me on their squad because of the power and speed I possess! Why would I make such a decision you ask? Well it’s pretty simple when I prayed about it, I felt it was obvious that God was telling me that I was not meant to race as USA 2 for this race….and you know what I was fine with it. At the end of the meeting my CEO told “Well Jesse prove it on the ICE” and I said I WILL shook his and my head coach’s hand and left the meeting room.
The next day in preparations for the race USA 1, USA 2, and USA 3 all began our warm-up in the OTC gym before heading to the track to complete our warm-up and race!! It is impossible to put into words how jacked up I was for this race!!! I felt like I could punch space and create a black hole (told you all I was a sci-fy nerd at heart) the blood in my veins were pumping like lava from a Volcano!!!! For the next two days anything that was in my way would be crushed The IMMORTATL was Ready Hell hath no furies like me scorn!! I was determined to break that side push bar off the sled every time I hit it, and my teammates knew it!!! JQ and I were racing together again….it was almost poetic since we were both assumed to be the reasons why the USA 2 sled had not been fast all year!
By the time we got to the track USA 1 had already gone pushing a 4.97 off and were sitting in 2nd position. USA 2 was off the top of the hill 3 sleds ahead of us and pushed a 5.11 and were in 8th position at the bottom of the hill!! Nick (driver), JQ, Dallas, and I took to the start block and it was show time!!! The intensity was extremely high and radiating from each one of us if you were smart you did not want to be in our path. It was Nicks second year driving and first World Championships as a driver, along with Dallas’s firs Worlds as well. When we got to the bottom of the hill we were in 14th position but our start was 5.04!!!! The fifth fastest start time in the World we were pumped and instantly Vindicated from those who doubted our ability!!
The next heat was in reverse order so we were off the top of the hill before USA 1 and USA 2. Once again we took to the line just as focused and determined as ever! Once again we hit the sled and sprinted it off the top!! We got down to the bottom and were in the same position as before but our start was a bit slower…we had pushed a 5.10. We were not happy, but we all knew the timing was off on that second heat resulting in a slower push time. It was a problem we could fix so we were not too concerned about it! Being that we had two more heats the next day we hoped on the sled truck to the USA garage to prepare for tomorrow. Once we arrived at the sled we talked about what we needed to do tomorrow to move up but what happened next none of us could have guessed! As I said we were down in the USA garage without any ability to know what was going on with the race or the sleds that were still coming down the hill. As we were taking the runners off the sled the USA 2 sled came down and Chuck walked into the garage. I asked Chuck what was their start time because I know they were hell bent on beating our start time!! Chuck told me they didn’t have one! I thought he was being sarcastic because they had beaten us on the second push! So I asked again, then he told us that Adam had problems loading into the sled and fell off in Curve 1!!! Adam had a few bruises and was fine but they had been disqualified and their World Championships were over! It was crazy and we were all speechless, but did our best to offer some words sympathy for the guys, as you can imagine it was not much we could say. Shortly thereafter USA 1 came down and they had moved into 1st position by .01, they were on the verge of making history by being the only USA team to win both the 2-Man and 4-Man World Championship Races!! It was a day of ups, downs, and ups for Team USA!
Going into the second and final day of racing we changed runners at the coaches recommendations who felt that the runners we used on the first day were slow for the race conditions. Similar to the first day USA 1 and our squad began our warm-up in the OTC Gym before finishing our warm-up at the top of the hill. We maintained our intensity going into the second day of pushing and we pushed a 5.07 and a 5.04 completing a solid outing of pushing for us. The second set of runners we used were definitely a lot faster as were made evident in our down times resulting in us moving up a spot to 13th. It was a good result for Nick at his first World Championships but better than that God had used what to me were seemingly hellish situations to create a great team of four Division One athletes that push well together and were now USA 2!!!! Not to be out done USA 1 had start times of 4.95, 4.94 and went on to make History by Winning the 4-Man Gold in The 2012 World Championship Races!!!
Overall it was a great World Championships for the USA Bobsled and Skeleton Team!!! We had taken Bronze in Women’s 2-Man, Gold in Men’s 2-Man, Gold in Women’s Skeleton, and Gold in Men’s 4-Man on our home track!!!!
It was a rough year full of numerous trials for me that resulting in me now being on a team with a group of guys with similar athletic backgrounds and willingness to do what’s best for the team! I am really not sure while I continually have to fight every year at every turn but if it’s for me to show God working in my life so be it!! But I promise you this, that the HEART that God put in me is stronger than any squat video I will ever post!! There is no quit and me and every year I will get better AND I WILL NOT BE STOPPED!! The ability I have been given will not be wasted!!
God Bless you all
Jesse
P.S you can watch every race from this season including World Championships by pasting the following link in your browser http://eurovision.digotel.com/fibt/index.html And look for pictures on my web page under my media section, click on 2012 World Championships!!
www.jessebeckom3.com
After a year of constantly being tested and doubted it was finally World Championships week! World Championships format is the same as the Olympic Games where you have a week dedicated for 2-Man training and a week dedicated to 4-Man training both ending with a two day/four heat race on Saturday and Sunday.
In preparations for Worlds USA 1 and USA 2 had both spent two weeks in Lake Placid working on timing and training together as we had planned at the beginning of the season and now it was time to reap the benefits!!! However we were waiting for the USA 3 and USA 4 teams respectively to come back from racing in Whistler and Calgary before the official announcement was made. On February 20th we had a team meeting to officially announce the teams racing World Championships which we already knew but like I said it’s a formality. Todd Hays announces the Women’s Team by name and sled rank, Tuffy (Skeleton Head Coach) announces the Men’s and Women’s Skeleton Athlete by name and sled rank, Shimer (Men’s Head Bobsled Coach) announces the 2-Man Teams racing by name and sled rank; he then announces the 4-man Team of USA 1 by name and then for USA 2 and USA 3 he announces the drivers by name and then the Pool of Push Athletes to be racing!! It was at that moment that me and everyone else in the room knew another curve ball was coming……..! All I could do was sit back and think Here We Go Again!!
Coach Shimer dismisses everyone in the room except the members of USA 2 and USA 3, after its just us in the rooms he announces that the Selection Committee would like to see one more race of between myself and Chuck (A good push athlete and former 2010 Olympian who had done two races this year in Canada with USA 3) to compare push times and sled velocity. Warning- some of my frustrations may come out in the e-mail! It was a surprise to everyone in the room!! It was like getting hit with a sucker punch to the gut when you don’t know you were even in a fight till after the impact!! I felt pretty disrespected by the whole thing especially since I had been taking the lead on my team to work on ridding positions, dry loads, and running positions all to help make us faster at the load and increase our velocity. Not to mention that I did finish Fourth in push championships (higher than any other push athlete on USA 2) and have passed every single test and race-off I was put through this year and yet again in the eleventh hour I would be tested yet again for what to me and other did not seem logical especially when you look at the numbers! But once again I could not take any action of protest without looking like I’m not a team player so I had to suck it up and get prepared for a race-off I would have in a week. If you could have x-rayed me at that moment you would see Two Supernovas colliding inside of me creating and Extinction Level Event I was so HOTT!! To me and other athletes it was like if the Super Bowl was a week away and the Head Coach Announces to the team that we are thinking about switching out one of our starting receivers because we think this replacement may be better even though he only played two games this year. It just did not make sense so much that every other member of team USA male and female, medical staff, housekeeping and hell members of foreign countries ask what was going on and how does this make any sense!? I had no answer, only thing I knew was that once again I was being tested and once again I knew I was ready to beat whoever they put in my way! I had trained all off-season to be ready for whatever challenge thrown my way and the coach I worked with in Colorado Springs this summer had me on point!! Furthermore not only did this race-off affect me it also affected every other member of USA 2 because now instead of having a grueling two days/four heats of racing we now essentially had three days/six heats of racing not to mention having lifting schedules and timing issues that can occur because of situations like this.
As I mentioned the first week of World Championships is dedicated to 2-Man races for Women and Men in that order!!! I thrilled to say that it was a great week of racing for Team USA!!! The USA 1 Team of Elana Meyers (2010 Bronze Medalist Pusher turn driver) and Katie Eberling (2011 Push Champion and Rookie) took the Bronze for women at Worlds!!! And not to be out done the USA 1 Team of Steve Holcomb (2010 Gold Medal Driver) and Steve Langton (2011 World Push Champion) to the Gold Medal, which was the First Time In History that American has won during the 2-Man World Championship Races!!! Yup it was a historical day for the USA.
The next week it was finally time to put away the little sleds and Break out the Big Boi’s….It was 4-Man Week Baby and all the teams of the World were ready to get after it! But before I could really get loose with it and do my thing I had to deal with a race-off/push off that against a Mr. Chuck Berkley for my spot on USA 2! Now for the record there is no animosity between me and chuck or really any push athletes but sometimes we are pitted against one another whether it makes sense or not. And in this instance those making the decision thought in order to help USA 2 the best possible push that it would be best to race me off on the sled because somehow I got pegged as a possible weak link or I had bad ridding position. This is besides the fact that on my sled I finished the highest in Push Championships 4th and the other pushers 6th and 12th, also that every other race-off or hard push session I had so far this year I WON!, or that when I was taken of the 4-Man Sled in France for a race the USA 2 team pushed slower compared to the field then they had all year, combined with two man testing in placid which showed I had great ridding velocity, added to the fact that I lead the charge on my team when it came to working on loading into the sled and ridding position to increase our velocity!! Not to mention that the possibility of changing out the members of a crew so close before the biggest race of the year disrupts team cohesion and timing. But once again I somehow was the one in doubt and need to race-off once more. But like I said who am I to judge what makes sense or not so based on the facts I just mentioned I will let you all determine that for yourselves. I do not that during that week several athletes from different countries ask me what type of craziness was happening on my team?, members of team USA asked me the same and so did everyone from the cooks in the kitchen, people in sports med and hell even the house keepers than not understand the logic in it. But, it was whatever for me because no matter what, Evidently I will be tested at any and every from here until the Olympic Team is named in 2014 and who knows I might even need a Lawyer on call then to make sure the numbers I have that year are not ignored!!! (I think I may a mentioned a bit of my frustration coming through in this e-mail!! lol)
When the race-off was first announced a few of the members of Team USA approached me and said “I hope you don’t get sand bagged by someone!” If you are wondering Sand Bagging is when an individual does not put forth 100% effort when they push, in football we call it loafing on the field and when you see it on film it is obvious and embarrassing for the person who is guilty of it. I kind of disregarded the comment because it was something I did not want to think about, especially since my coach this summer had worked hard to help me understand that “All I can do is control my own performance and I can’t worry about what others are doing it” and that is how I was approaching this situation. I will tell you that just like every time when I race that I prayed that God’s will be done and that I perform to my best because I know my best can’t be beaten!!
Going into the race-off I elected to push second because for me It had felt like some forces beyond my control were trying to get me off the sled all year and I wanted to make sure that everyone involved were properly warmed up. Sorry if I have gotten ahead of myself……The way a 4-man race of works is that the persons in question each take one push with the other members of the sled they are trying to get on or stay on. In this instance Chuck would do one push with USA 2 and I would do one push with USA 2. In this case the selection committee was looking at start time and velocity down the hill to see if it was a need to change me out for Chuck. It’s not the most scientific method in the World because of all the possible variables involved but as of now that’s the process we have. The day (Wednesday) of the race off-came and thankfully the weather was cooperating…..well so I thought. Things were going as planned, Chuck and the guys went first and they pushed a 5.13 which was pretty good. It actually got me pretty excited because I knew I could push faster. My warm-up was going great I was getting deep in my zone and then it went from clear blue skies to gray skies and snow, not just flurries either but full out snowing that would last a day or more. I was like great!!! Lol but I still trusted in my abilities not worrying about the snow I just knew I need to push hard and let the numbers speak for themselves. It was finally my time to push! I stepped on to the block with the USA 2 squad I had pushed with all year. I was ready to put in some more work and prove my worth once again like I had been doing all year!! The hit felt good and I was in perfect position coming off the block. I got to the bottom and both Chris and Adam felt like the timing on the hit and push felt great we were surprised that the start time even with the snow was 5.19, obliviously .06 slower than the push they had with Chuck. Now in real world time this is a very small number but in the World of bobsled I had just got dog walked and put out to pasture!!! I was not happy but at the same time in the back of my mind and in other minds (I would find out later) to get beat by .06 in a 4-man race-off just did not seem possible unless other factors were involved. Especially since me and Chuck both figured that it would be either .01 or .02 of a difference between us one way or another. But the numbers were what they were and that’s what the selection committee would be looking at.
Later that night I was called up to the coaches’ office to meet with the selection committee and hear what decision they had made. They informed me that they had looked at the video from the back and front of the sled at the start and although the sled velocity was better with me that they could not overlook the .06 difference at the start and that Chuck would replace me on USA 2 and I would race with USA 3 for World Championships!! Based on the days results I knew it was coming but it was still unsettling to hear. I told the selection committee thank you for your time and that I am still going to push as hard as ever to try and win this race and left the office.
I initially went back to my room but for some reason I felt a need to walk around the training center to blow off some steam!!...and thank God I did! As I walked around I ran into a teammate who sarcastically congratulated me on been railroaded onto USA 3!! I immediately said “WHAT!” (but deep down I was thinking yeah but I can’t prove anything) Then my teammate asked me if I had seen the video? I said no. He said well I have to show you this video I took because Jesse you got sand bagged pretty bad! I told him to show it to me! The video he showed me was a side angle of the sled and a view that the Selection Committee had not seen and did not know existed!!! When he showed it to me it was so bad and blatant all inadvertently laughed and shook my head. He told me yeah I know man it’s bad!! I copied the video from him and showed it to my Athlete Reps who deal with athlete issues along with other members of the National Team to make sure I was not seeing what I wanted because it would benefit me and they all agreed that I need to show this video to our Coaches and CEO because it was not fair. As you could imagine I prayed long and hard that night to decided what course of action and the type of resolution I was looking for.
The Friday before the race I arranged a meeting with my Head Coach, CEO and Athlete Reps to show the video I was blessed with receiving. Their response was similar to my response when I saw the video. Both I and my athlete reps expressed their concern for what was on the video and everyone in the room were in agreement that for the integrity of our sport that things like this can’t be allowed to happened. The fact that sand bagging had happened during World Championship made it worse because if unpunished what stops it from happening Olympic Year!? Not only that but what little funding we do get and our ranking for housing depends on World Championships as well. So basically my lively hood had been put in jeopardy by the selfish actions of another who wanted someone else on a sled other than me!!! I presented those facts to my coach and CEO stating that based on new video evidence no one can claim I lost that race-off or that chuck is better than me pushing and that although I am pushing for USA 3 my status as a USA 2 brakeman within the federation would still stand. I was happy that they agreed and assured me that neither my funding nor housing status would change. I also informed them that I had no desire to race with the current USA 2 sled for Worlds because obviously from the actions shown on the video I was not wanted on the team; and that I was happy to race with the USA 3 squad because they were excited to have me on their squad because of the power and speed I possess! Why would I make such a decision you ask? Well it’s pretty simple when I prayed about it, I felt it was obvious that God was telling me that I was not meant to race as USA 2 for this race….and you know what I was fine with it. At the end of the meeting my CEO told “Well Jesse prove it on the ICE” and I said I WILL shook his and my head coach’s hand and left the meeting room.
The next day in preparations for the race USA 1, USA 2, and USA 3 all began our warm-up in the OTC gym before heading to the track to complete our warm-up and race!! It is impossible to put into words how jacked up I was for this race!!! I felt like I could punch space and create a black hole (told you all I was a sci-fy nerd at heart) the blood in my veins were pumping like lava from a Volcano!!!! For the next two days anything that was in my way would be crushed The IMMORTATL was Ready Hell hath no furies like me scorn!! I was determined to break that side push bar off the sled every time I hit it, and my teammates knew it!!! JQ and I were racing together again….it was almost poetic since we were both assumed to be the reasons why the USA 2 sled had not been fast all year!
By the time we got to the track USA 1 had already gone pushing a 4.97 off and were sitting in 2nd position. USA 2 was off the top of the hill 3 sleds ahead of us and pushed a 5.11 and were in 8th position at the bottom of the hill!! Nick (driver), JQ, Dallas, and I took to the start block and it was show time!!! The intensity was extremely high and radiating from each one of us if you were smart you did not want to be in our path. It was Nicks second year driving and first World Championships as a driver, along with Dallas’s firs Worlds as well. When we got to the bottom of the hill we were in 14th position but our start was 5.04!!!! The fifth fastest start time in the World we were pumped and instantly Vindicated from those who doubted our ability!!
The next heat was in reverse order so we were off the top of the hill before USA 1 and USA 2. Once again we took to the line just as focused and determined as ever! Once again we hit the sled and sprinted it off the top!! We got down to the bottom and were in the same position as before but our start was a bit slower…we had pushed a 5.10. We were not happy, but we all knew the timing was off on that second heat resulting in a slower push time. It was a problem we could fix so we were not too concerned about it! Being that we had two more heats the next day we hoped on the sled truck to the USA garage to prepare for tomorrow. Once we arrived at the sled we talked about what we needed to do tomorrow to move up but what happened next none of us could have guessed! As I said we were down in the USA garage without any ability to know what was going on with the race or the sleds that were still coming down the hill. As we were taking the runners off the sled the USA 2 sled came down and Chuck walked into the garage. I asked Chuck what was their start time because I know they were hell bent on beating our start time!! Chuck told me they didn’t have one! I thought he was being sarcastic because they had beaten us on the second push! So I asked again, then he told us that Adam had problems loading into the sled and fell off in Curve 1!!! Adam had a few bruises and was fine but they had been disqualified and their World Championships were over! It was crazy and we were all speechless, but did our best to offer some words sympathy for the guys, as you can imagine it was not much we could say. Shortly thereafter USA 1 came down and they had moved into 1st position by .01, they were on the verge of making history by being the only USA team to win both the 2-Man and 4-Man World Championship Races!! It was a day of ups, downs, and ups for Team USA!
Going into the second and final day of racing we changed runners at the coaches recommendations who felt that the runners we used on the first day were slow for the race conditions. Similar to the first day USA 1 and our squad began our warm-up in the OTC Gym before finishing our warm-up at the top of the hill. We maintained our intensity going into the second day of pushing and we pushed a 5.07 and a 5.04 completing a solid outing of pushing for us. The second set of runners we used were definitely a lot faster as were made evident in our down times resulting in us moving up a spot to 13th. It was a good result for Nick at his first World Championships but better than that God had used what to me were seemingly hellish situations to create a great team of four Division One athletes that push well together and were now USA 2!!!! Not to be out done USA 1 had start times of 4.95, 4.94 and went on to make History by Winning the 4-Man Gold in The 2012 World Championship Races!!!
Overall it was a great World Championships for the USA Bobsled and Skeleton Team!!! We had taken Bronze in Women’s 2-Man, Gold in Men’s 2-Man, Gold in Women’s Skeleton, and Gold in Men’s 4-Man on our home track!!!!
It was a rough year full of numerous trials for me that resulting in me now being on a team with a group of guys with similar athletic backgrounds and willingness to do what’s best for the team! I am really not sure while I continually have to fight every year at every turn but if it’s for me to show God working in my life so be it!! But I promise you this, that the HEART that God put in me is stronger than any squat video I will ever post!! There is no quit and me and every year I will get better AND I WILL NOT BE STOPPED!! The ability I have been given will not be wasted!!
God Bless you all
Jesse
P.S you can watch every race from this season including World Championships by pasting the following link in your browser http://eurovision.digotel.com/fibt/index.html And look for pictures on my web page under my media section, click on 2012 World Championships!!
www.jessebeckom3.com
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Very Important Information
Good Morning Everyone,
I am still working on my last racing blog of the year and will have it out to you all hopefully sometime this weekend. But While I have your attention I wanted to share some more information with you...this is not something I usually do but with the importance of the situation I feel that not sharing this with would be irresponsible!! Please follow this link and watch this 27 minute video. The Video Speaks for itself and I promise you it is worth your time!
http://vimeo.com/invisible/kony2012
God Bless
Jesse
I am still working on my last racing blog of the year and will have it out to you all hopefully sometime this weekend. But While I have your attention I wanted to share some more information with you...this is not something I usually do but with the importance of the situation I feel that not sharing this with would be irresponsible!! Please follow this link and watch this 27 minute video. The Video Speaks for itself and I promise you it is worth your time!
http://vimeo.com/invisible/kony2012
God Bless
Jesse
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