(CHRIS FOGT)
(BOBSLEIGH USA / ARMY CAPTAIN)
I am not a very talented individual, I'm not very smart,
but one thing I've learnt since I was a kid is just,
if you put the time in and you are consistent,
you will be successful.
I don't think you ever go into a competition,
a fight, a battle, a war expecting to do well.
You want to win.
My name is Christopher Fogt,
I am an officer in the United States Army
and a bronze medallist in the four-man bobsled event
in the 2014 Olympic Games.
(FORT HOOD, USA)
So, I grew up a lot playing baseball, basketball,
but probably the best sport I played was track and field.
I was running track in 2007 at Utah Valley University
and I had two men approached me
in black USA Team jackets and say,
"Hey, have you ever tried bobsledding before?"
I trained real hard and made the team that very first year.
Let's do it, come on.
In the army, we start our days very, very early,
between 5:30am and 6:30am.
Across the entire world, almost every army unit
is doing physical training
and it helps to set the tone for the day.
Keep the pace up, keep pushing yourselves,
get that log all the way up, there you go.
As Company Commander,
I'm in charge of 100 soldiers.
Three, two, one.
I have to plan all their training,
to prepare these guys for war.
Company, let's get to work.
Captain Fogt is quite the role model
because it takes a lot to run a company
and he brings that every single day
just as he brings the style and mentality that he has
when he's training to be an Olympic athlete.
Captain Fogt has a very strong dedication to his country.
I've learned some pretty good leadership styles from him
like how to lead soldiers, how to treat people,
how to respect others, even if they are below me in rank,
you still have to give them respect, no matter what.
The first time I went down a bobsled run
was a pretty terrifying experience, to be honest.
After about three or four curves,
we were going about 50mph.
Started to feel the G-forces and I was like,
"I need to get out of this thing now."
"This sport is not for me." That was terrifying.
At that point, I had jumped out of planes before
with the United States Army, so I do like adrenaline,
I do like doing things like that.
So, I was like, "I'm getting back in to try this."
And I am very glad that I did.
(VANCOUVER 2010)
Going to the Olympic Games for my very first time
was a very out-of-body type of experience.
The track in Vancouver
is the fastest track in the entire world.
You hit speeds in a four-man of about 96mph.
And there is one curve called the "50-50 Curve".
It's called that for a reason.
Came through, felt pretty good.
We came off the curve, I thought we were good,
then all a sudden...
..we're on our head, going about 92, 93mph.
At that point in my life,
I'd never felt such disappointment.
I felt like I had just let that many people down.
My whole family is there watching me,
my buddies at school are watching,
I had friends over in Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea
watching me race, very excited to say,
"That's my friend, I used to train with him,
"I used to run track with him,
"I went to high school with him."
And to feel like I had let down all those people
and my poor mom, having to watch me come down that curve
on my head about 90mph, worried sick.
As a kid, you dream of being a world champion,
you dream of winning a gold medal,
you dream of making professional sports
and I had a shot.
The Olympic Games being every four years,
I didn't know if I'd have another chance,
so I was like, "I just blew my one shot
"to win an Olympic medal."
People ask me all the time
how, when I'm doing the army full time in central Texas...
..how I can train for a sport where you're on ice.
In the sport of bobsled, we're trying to push a 500-lb object
from zero to as fast as we can for five to eight seconds.
So, when we start, we have all four of us across the line
in a crouch position.
So, I can do that with the Prowler.
Back sit, front sit, ready, and all four of us
hit the bar at the exact same time
to break the inertia of the object
to push as fast as we can
for those five to eight seconds.
What's more important for me is to develop a strength
in the weight room, keep myself trained up
for the sport of bobsledding.
(SOCHI 2014)
For me to win the bronze medal
came down to the last run of the Olympics.
We came into day number two actually in fourth place.
We're at the top, we huddle.
We want to win this medal, we have to go and earn it.
We power out the block, and we get in,
the whole time, I'm on pins and needles,
waiting to feel every curve if we hit a wall.
But lucky at the bottom every curve felt great,
I think there might be a chance.
We come down that last curve, we cross the line.
We pop up all four us trying to move,
I'm trying to stop the sled,
we're bouncing and we see our coaches losing it.
They're jumping up and down...
..and at that point,
you knew you'd won a bronze medal - holy cow.
The excitement and happiness,
cos you train so hard with your team-mates,
you work so hard for it.
I think, especially for me, having the failure in 2010,
at that point, I didn't care if it was bronze, silver,
gold, purple -
as long as it was an Olympic medal,
I was extremely happy to have proven to myself,
and to my family and my friends,
that I was capable of doing that.
Of all the titles that I have
as a Commander in the United States Army,
as an athlete, as an Olympian,
the most important one that I respect the most
and I try the hardest at is being a father.
How you doing today?
You all right?
Being at work, I leave the house
at 5 o'clock in the morning,
I don't go home for breakfast or lunch.
So I'm at work all day
and I get home about 18:00 every single night.
My son goes to bed about 19:30 so I see him for about
an hour-and-a-half, two hours a day,
and at work, that is what I look forward to the most.
Sometimes it's definitely challenging -
like, he always stays late hours,
he's always the last one to leave
and same in the gym, he's like,
"I took my lunch break at the gym today",
cos that's how he'll fit it in.
Let's go get it. Run.
But he really makes sure that
the time that he gives us is quality time.
So, we never feel like last priority or anything.
- Snail! - Oh, it's a snail.
You want to go show Mommy?
My favourite part of being a Commander
is being able to reward soldiers that did something
great at the National Training Centre a few months ago.
So it's a great honour to be able to do this.
Coming up to 2018, my job takes up 12 to 13 hours a day.
I think my experience will help me out a lot.
The mental toughness, the support system that I have
within my family, within the army.
All right, everyone give this soldier a round of applause.
We have great coaches,
the US Olympic Committee has done a great job
supporting the bobsled team.
And there is no doubt in my mind
that we can win a gold medal in Korea.
DAY JOBS