ST MORITZ, Switzerland – Former Illini great Aja Evans has been named an alternate for the 2022 U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team that will compete at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China from February 4-20.
Olympic bobsled will be contested Feb. 13-20, at the National Sliding Center in Yanqing, China and will be held in a four-heat format over two days. Women's monobob will be contested first from February 13-14. Two-man bobsled will take place from February 14-15, two-woman from February 18-19, and four-man from February 19-20 to close out the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. U.S. bobsledders have medaled at every Olympic Winter Games dating back to 2002.
Evans claimed the 2014 Olympic bronze medal with pilot Jamie Greubel Poser. She raced with Greubel Poser again at the 2018 Olympics, where the duo finished fifth. Evans took time away from the sport after 2018, and returned this season to make a bid for her third Olympic team.
Evans, a five-time All-American and three-time Big Ten champion at Illinois, decided to make the transition to bobsledding in March of 2012. A few months later, she scored 794 out of a possible 800 points on the combine test and won the 2012 U.S. National Push Championship title. At the national team trials for the 2012-13 season, Evans and driver Jamie Greubel set a start record at the Olympic bobsled track in Lake Placid, N.Y. By the end of the season, she was named USA Bobsled's Rookie of the Year.
Evans continued her success in 2013, winning a silver medal at the 2013 World Cup and setting a new start record at the 2014 Olympic venue in Sochi. She became the first athlete ever to record a perfect score on the combine test (800 of 800), and won her second straight National Push Championship title. She ended the season by winning the gold medal in a World Cup bobsled race in Park City, Utah.
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About USA Bobsled/Skeleton
USA Bobsled/Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com. Individuals interested in becoming a bobsled or skeleton athlete can visit www.usabobsledskeleton.com.
