Special Edition: Winter Olympics – One Bobsledder's Journey

The NewsWorthy, February 7, 2026

Host: Erica Mandy
Guest: Lauren Gibbs – 2018 Olympic Silver Medalist, US Bobsled

Episode Overview

In this special Saturday edition, host Erica Mandy interviews Olympic silver medalist Lauren Gibbs about her unconventional journey from corporate America to Olympic bobsledder. Lauren reflects on the pressures and emotions surrounding the Olympics, the decision to take life-changing risks, and what competing at the elite level really entails. The episode marries rare athlete insights with universal life lessons about perseverance, self-trust, and the courage to reinvent oneself.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Pre-Olympics Pressure: Making the Team vs. Competing

• Biggest hurdle: Lauren shares that “the toughest part for me was making the team. Once I made the team, I'd never slept so well in my life. The competition is so tight that after that, I felt like I'd already won.” (01:48)
• Olympic moment: For Lauren, qualifying was more daunting than actually competing for a medal.

The Fleeting Glory: Four Years for Three Minutes

• Olympics for most athletes mean years of unseen work for an opportunity measured in mere minutes.
  • “I say I worked for four years for three minutes of competition.” (02:27)
• The format: In bobsled, athletes have two days of competition, two runs per day.

Mindset & Mental Preparation

• Lauren's approach to competition:
  • “I was intending to win a medal. That was always the plan. But that felt like less of a mountain to climb than beating some of my teammates…” (02:09)
  • “I decided way before that that win, lose, or draw, this is going to be the best thing I've ever done in life. And I was going to have the most fun and make the most of it.” (03:26)
• Visualization and preparedness:
  • “When I got there, I felt superhuman. I was like, ‘you can't touch me. I'm in the best shape of my life.’” (03:48)
• Balancing nerves:
  • “Being nervous about competition isn’t going to help me do better, so you might as well enjoy it.” (04:10)

Silver Medal Moment: On the Podium

• Emotional aftermath:
  • “Knowing you're a medalist, I don't know how to describe that feeling. It feels like everything that you've worked so hard for just came to fruition… I was just very humbled and grateful for that moment.” (05:36)
• Support systems: Lauren had 17 friends and family in attendance and credits her pilot, Alana Meyers Taylor, for shared success.

Missing Gold by .07 Seconds

• On narrowly missing gold:
  • “It didn’t take anything away. I mean, I was 33 years old. As accidental of an Olympian as you can be… I’m incredibly proud of myself.” (06:40)

The Unexpected Journey: From Corporate Sales to Olympian

• Recruitment story:
  • Lauren’s friend suggested trying bobsled: “The only reason I did it was because for $45, you could go down to the Olympic training center…” (07:18)
  • “I was there for a good time, not a long time.” (08:14)
• Rapid progression: From rookie to national team in her first year, despite little bobsled experience.
  • “For bobsled, you have to make the national team every year.” (08:44)

Weighing Risk: Leaving the Corporate World

• Calculated leap:
  • “I felt like saying ‘you’re training for the Olympics’ is a good enough reason to quit a six figure job.” (08:56)
  • “I was in such a privileged position to be able to quit my job. Not everybody can just like, oh, I'm gonna quit this job... It would be irresponsible of me to just say, yeah, just go do it.” (10:29)
  • Advice: Weigh risks/rewards, consult your support network, and know “if the nagging is worse than the risk of failure, then go for it.” (10:29)

Life Philosophy: Collecting Cool Stories

• Quote: “You want to have a cool story at the end of your life and the more random things you try, the cooler your story gets.” (11:21)
• Lauren reaffirms: “My life hasn’t gotten any less random.” (11:34)

Olympic Village Realities

• Not the party everyone imagines:
  • “At the Winter Games, it’s so cold. So this idea that a bunch of Olympians are just running around frolicking and partying in the village is not it. You can’t even get alcohol into the Olympic Village.” (14:43)

Lasting Life Lessons

• On self-trust and persistence:
  • “I now know if I put my all into something, I’m really hard to stop and that is powerful.” (15:25)

The Athlete-Advocate: Bobsled’s Realities

• Funding challenges:
  • “There's very little funding for it and athletes generally have to go into debt to be able to do it… we don't get any government funding. It’s all from private donation and sponsorships.” (16:11)
• The actual feel of bobsled:
  • “It's like getting kicked off a cliff in a trash can. It's not like taking a fun roller coaster ride.” (16:11)
  • “You're just getting knocked around, going through like five Gs… you can't control it as a brakeman, you're just kind of there for the ride.” (17:01)

Advice to Listeners

• “It’s never too late to be who you were meant to be. So go after your dreams.” (17:34)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The toughest part for me was making the team. Once I made the team, I'd never slept so well in my life.”
  – Lauren Gibbs (01:48)

• “I say I worked for four years for three minutes of competition.”
  – Lauren Gibbs (02:27)

• “I decided way before that that win, lose or draw, this is going to be the best thing I've ever done in life.”
  – Lauren Gibbs (03:26)

• “When I got there, I felt superhuman. I was like, you can’t touch me. I'm in the best shape of my life.”
  – Lauren Gibbs (03:48)

• “Knowing you're a medalist, I don't know how to describe that feeling. It feels like everything that you've worked so hard for just came to fruition.”
  – Lauren Gibbs (05:36)

• “It's like getting kicked off a cliff in a trash can.”
  – Lauren Gibbs (16:11)

• “I now know if I put my all into something, I’m really hard to stop and that is powerful.”
  – Lauren Gibbs (15:25)

• “It’s never too late to be who you were meant to be. So go after your dreams.”
  – Lauren Gibbs (17:34)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Lauren joins the show / Pre-competition nerves: 01:32–02:21
• Olympic competition & medal run: 03:11–05:36
• Losing gold by .07 seconds: 06:24–06:40
• Path from corporate world to Olympics: 07:04–08:56
• On risk and decision-making: 09:44–10:29
• Life philosophy & randomness: 11:21–11:34
• Olympic Village realities: 14:33–15:19
• Life lessons & self-trust: 15:25–15:37
• Bobsled’s realities (funding, experience): 16:07–17:18
• Final advice: 17:34

Final Thoughts

This episode uses Lauren Gibbs’ journey to paint a vivid, unvarnished picture of Olympic bobsledding and the mindset required to bet on oneself. Her story champions hard work, humility, calculated risk, and the thrill of collecting life’s “cool stories”—reminding listeners that redefining yourself is always possible, no matter what your starting line looks like.