"Jadin O'Brien thought she was being scammed. The Milan Cortina Olympics and the sport of bobsled, for that matter were not anywhere near O'Brien's radar a couple years ago, when the Notre Dame track and field star saw that someone sent her a direct message on Instagram. The message was ignored. Several months later, the same person slid into O'Brien's DMs again."
"It has really been a roller-coaster of events, O'Brien said. Everything's happened so fast, but I've kind of been conditioned to be able to handle new things very, very fast and then perform despite a lack of experience. So, it has been a whirlwind. I could never have predicted my life would turn out this way, but I'm incredibly grateful and I've loved every second of it."
"A month and a half later, in mid-August of last year, she drove 12 1/2 hours from Notre Dame to Lake Placid, New York, to see what bobsled was all about. And now, she's an Olympian. It is a story perhaps like none other in these Olympics: A rookie, who has raced only twice in her career, is going to compete on the sport's biggest stage with a very real chance of finding her way to the Olympic medal stand."
Jadin O'Brien received an Instagram invitation to try bobsled, ignored it initially, then responded months later and traveled to Lake Placid to try the sport. Within months she progressed from novice to Olympian, having raced only twice before earning a spot to push in two-woman bobsled alongside Elana Meyers Taylor. O'Brien has a decorated Notre Dame track and field background, including multiple national pentathlon titles, All-ACC honors, and All-American designations. The rapid transition required adapting quickly and performing despite limited experience. O'Brien expresses gratitude and amazement at the swift change in her athletic career.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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