Bonnie Warner

Sunday , November 04 , 2001 - It is not some addiction to high-speed thrills that motivated Bonnie Warner to try out for the Olympics again.She is not one of those athletes who finds life without competition boring , and it's not like she didn't have anything better to do.She is a wife , a mother and a 737 captain for United Airlines who loves flying.

Bonnie Warner , a former luge athlete , is trying to make the Olympics again , this time in bobsled , for one reason : She believes that she can win a medal when women's bobsled debuts at the Salt Lake Games.

The only reason I came back was because I saw it would be very realistic for me to win a medal , said Warner , a former luge athlete attempting to make the 2002 U.S. Olympic team as a bobsled driver.We're only here to win a medal..

Women's bobsled makes its Olympic debut at the Salt Lake Games.Warner is teamed with former track athlete Vonetta Flowers , whom Warner recruited at the 2000 Olympic track and field trials.Together they finished second in three World Cup races last season.The 2001-02 World Cup season begins this week in Winterberg , Germany.

Warner and Flowers aren't a lock for an Olympic medal , but they definitely have a shot.

I'm not surprised where I am now , Warner said , because if we weren't where we are now , I wouldn't be doing it..

Warner spent 11 years on the U.S. national luge team , competing at the Olympics in 1984 , '88 and '92.As a luge athlete she thought bobsled was relatively easy - until she tried it.

It turns out bobsled is a lot more difficult to be precise than in luge , said Warner , 39.In luge you can always steer anywhere on the track.The tough thing about luge is you have to put it within about half an inch of where you need to be , but you can correct all the way down , whether you are on a straightaway or a turn.

Bobsled is very different because our runners are round.You can't steer unless there are G-forces on the sled.You only have G-forces on the sled at certain parts of the turn , so you have to be very , very precise.
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Warner has a 3-year-old daughter , a mortgage and car payments.Her leave of absence from United is a sacrifice.

When I was a little kid , I had a lot of dreams , Warner said.Being in the Olympics was one of them.My mother was an elementary school teacher , a single mom with two young kids.After school she would take us from day care to the airport so we could watch airplanes take off and land and she could correct papers.Some of my earliest memories are of the airport.Someday I wanted to be a pilot..

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I am a very visible person , and if a blond-haired , blue-eyed female captain with a 3-year-old kid feels it's safe to fly , that sends a message , Warner said.I thought America needed that message.I felt very safe to fly..

Warner went to the 2000 Olympic track and field trials in Sacramento , Calif. , looking for someone who could give her a world-class push on the bobsled track.Flowers , who knew her track career was nearing its end , saw the flier Warner posted at the hotel where the athletes stayed and decided to give it a try.Warner tested Flowers for sprinting speed , vertical jump and other athletic skills.Her scores were comparable to Jen Davidson , the brakeman who won the World Cup the past two seasons with driver Jean Racine.

A native of Alabama , Flowers had never watched bobsled - except in the movie Cool Running..

I thought it was a cool movie , Flowers said.I am having fun.

Act I: Back in November, driver Bonnie Warner became enamored with Johnson's raw talent.She formed a partnership with the promising rookie, casting aside her longtime brakeman, Vonetta Flowers.

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Warner was stunned at the question, having no clue that Johnson had already jumped to Racine's sled.

Act IV: Warner asked Flowers to return.Flowers responded in a way unfit for a family newspaper.Warner then considered Davidson, but opted for another partner.

Bonnie Warner

Position : Driver

Born : April 7, 1962, DATE : [ 04/07/1962 ]

Birthplace : Mt.Baldy, California.