Steve Holcomb: Profile of US Bobsledding Olympian for Sochi 2014

Crash Course: The United States never had much success in the bobsled—until Steve Holcomb came along. Holcomb helped the U.S. end a 62-year dry spell in the sport when he drove his team to a gold medal in the four-man event in Vancouver in 2010. Since then, Holcomb has been one of the dominant athletes in both two-man and four-man bobsled. A self-described "computer geek," Holcomb is a certified technician and he regularly helps teammates with their computer issues.

Hot Streak Ends: Holcomb started the 2013 World Cup season on a winning streak. He won seven-of-seven races in North America. Three wins came in the four-man event, while the other four came in two-man bobsled. However, when the World Cup moved to Europe, Holcomb crashed in Winterberg, Germany and finished 20th.

Visual Clarity: Holcomb contracted an ocular disease called keratoconus that resulted in his vision deteriorating to 20-500. The normal treatment would have been a cornea transplant, but that would have ended his career. However, Holcomb found a California surgeon named Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler who pioneered a procedure that saved Holcomb's vision. Wachler placed a contact lens behind Wachler's iris and that gave the bobsledder 20-20 vision after the 2008 procedure. 

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High-level partners: The U.S. Bobsled team has partnered with BMW and Bo-Dyn to engineer the two- and four-man sleds, respectively, to allow the American bobsledders to compete with the fastest equipment. Prior to Holcomb's win in 2010, the U.S. bobsled teams often were at a competitive disadvantage because their sleds were not as fast as the top European teams.

Social media: Holcomb has a Twitter account with more than 12,000 followers. He also has a Facebook page with more than 33,000 likes.

Quote: "We just have to keep the momentum going. It's really easy to get complacent. As we continue to do well, it's just going to get harder and harder and a lot more pressure. You have to stay humbled and focused."—Holcomb to Jeff Zillgitt of the USA Today.