Nick Tucker '18 grew up in an active family where winter sports were a means of escape from the world, but now they are Tucker's world as he is training with the USA Olympic Bobsled/Skeleton Development Team.
 
While Tucker grew up in an athletic environment, his Olympic dream started this past February when a commercial for the Tokyo Olympics came across his screen.
 

"As cliché as it sounds, the commercial reminded me of how I would always watch the Olympics growing up," Tucker said. "From that moment, my mind started to race. I immediately began researching summer and winter Olympic sports that I could compete in, and that is when I fell in love with the sport of skeleton."
 
Skeleton, similar to bobsled, involves an athlete running 40 meters before jumping onto a sled face-first and guiding it down an icy path using their body. Given the icy requirements to train for the sport, Tucker has traveled to Lake Placid, N.Y., where he trained at the Olympic Training Center, and Park City, Utah.
 

In September, Tucker was invited to compete at the National Push Championships against the U.S. National Team and finished in the top five. He then spent part of November and December in Park City at Sliding School.
 
After training, Tucker will focus on competing in multiple tours and competitions around the world to attempt to qualify for the Olympics. The first competition he hopes to attend is the North American Cup.
 
Along with his training, Tucker, who graduated with a business administration degree, also maintains a full-time position for Federal Express at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport in their Human Resources and Recruitment Department. There, Tucker oversees the Twin Lakes region, which includes around 12 stations from Pennsylvania to Vermont.
 
"The hardest part of my journey so far has been balancing a full-time job while also training to become an Olympic athlete," said Tucker. "Thankfully, my time as a student-athlete with the football team taught me time management, dedication, and accountability, which set me up for success post-graduation."
 
With such a busy schedule, Tucker is thankful for the support of friends and family throughout the past year.
 
"My family has been my biggest supporters day in and day out," said Tucker. "They all laughed at first, but once I dove into all the details, they had my back."
 
As Tucker moves forward in his training, he is excited to continue working with and competing against world-class athletes and, hopefully, one day represent Team USA at the Olympics.