Faith or Fear?

Do you believe in faith or fear? That's what Vonetta Flowers asks herself before she hurdles down the bobsled run. In fact, the brake for USA II sled in the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City has asked that question so much of herself in the past year it has become her own private mantra.

Photo by Nancie Battaglia

If things had gone according to plan, Flowers would have been an Olympian in track and field. An outstanding sprinter and long jumper at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB), she won 35 conference titles. But injuries kept her from making the 2000 U.S. team that competed in Sydney, Australia. As she left the track that day in Sacramento, Calif., her husband noticed a posting by the U.S. Bobsled Federation, recruiting track and field athletes because of their speed and strength. The position of brake is usually the fastest person on the team because he or she pushes the sled the longest at the start. Flowers tried out and was initially teamed with driver Bonny Warner, a former luge competitor and now a pilot with United Airlines.

Nothing really prepared the 27-year-old Flowers for her first bobsled run. The roller-coaster ride, with speeds reaching 80 mph and severe G forces, made her wonder if she should have stayed retired. Even now, after a year of preparation, she concedes the fear is still there. It's her faith that keeps her going.

"When you put your faith in God, your confidence level rises so high," says Flowers, who grew up as a Baptist in Helena, Ala. "I know that I would not be here if it wasn't for Him. I know that he brought me into this sport for a reason."

That belief was severely tested in the months leading up to the Olympic trials. With three skilled drivers-- Warner, Jean Racine, and Jill Bakken--and only the top two sleds from each country going to the Olympics, a game of musical chairs began.

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