- Well, you consider this.

As you look around Central Illinois, whether it be winter, spring, summer, or fall, there's simply a lot of flatness.

The soil and landscape perfect for farming, which we do well here.

So how is it that a flatlander would be enthralled with bobsledding?

We shall see.

Stay right here.

(uplifting music) So maybe we've all watched bobsledding events during the Olympic game telecasts, or maybe you learn a little bit about bobsledding from watching the classic movie "Cool Runnings," about a Jamaican bobsled team of all things.

It turns out that that particular movie, as crazy as the premise seemed, influenced one Charles Mangold of Eureka and he's here with us to tell us all about it.

What a story.

- Thank you for having me, Christine.

It is really an honor.

I appreciate it.

- So you're just a young guy.

What, 23 years old?

- 23 years old, just out of Eureka College.

- All right.

And you were a four sport athlete at Eureka High School.

- At Eureka High School, I was a basketball player, baseball player, football player, and cross country runner.

(Charles laughs) - So, and then you went to Eureka to play baseball for Coach Rashid?

- For Coach Jerry Rashid.

I mean, I can't give the guy enough credit.

He literally prepared us so much on the field as he did off the field.

An unbelievable coach.

- [Christine] Oh, it made a man.

It made a man out of you.

- Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely.

- In all things.

Well, okay, so let's go back to, what year were you watching "Cool Runnings"?

It came out in the 90s.

- Yeah.

- Heck, you weren't even born, I don't think.

Were ya?

- No, absolutely not.

So basically, it was a story that we were gonna have this family movie night and it was in our basement one night.

It was our family got together watching this Disney movie, "Cool Runnings," and my little sister off that bet me, "Hey, you're fast and strong, why don't you try out for something like that?"

And based off that, it turned from a joke to reality, as I applied and get a call back from the Team USA bobsled coach.

- What did you say to them?

But what were your qualifications?

And you're from... - Yeah.

- I mean, did they look up that Eureka's pretty flat?

- Yeah, absolutely.

So we have athletes on the team from all over the nation.

I had to end up applying basically based on my speed, agility and strength.

And they know that we don't have mountains out here in Central Illinois.

That's very good.

(Christine laughs) - That's a given.

- Yes.

(laughs) But based on my ability to perform on the track, they were able to accept me and welcome me to the team.

- Man.

And this is the North American Cup team?

- Absolutely, yep - Right, right?

- And so this is called a?

- Basically, I'm part of a two and four-man bobsled in the North American Cup.

- [Christine] Okay.

- And the North American Cup travels all around North America.

We took our first trip to Whistler, Canada.

It's the fastest track in the world and- - And that was the track for one of the Olympics, right?

- Exactly, yep.

- Yeah.

- So that was the Vancouver track of 2010.

And basically that was a great starter track, but man was it fast.

We ended up hitting between 80 and 90 miles an hour and pulling up to 5Gs.

And it was a great track to start on.

But we'd travel all across North America for the first part of our season.

- Uh-huh.

And I know that you're headed to Lake Placid.

- [Charles] Yep.

- And then you've also been to Park City, Utah.

- [Charles] Yes.

- So all places where the Olympics have taken place.

- Exactly.

So the USA bobsled will travel to these different tracks, but there's very few tracks.

There's only two in the United States alone.

Most of them are in Europe, across Asia and in Canada.

And so just being able to go to these different locations is an unbelievable experience.

But it's very, very cool to be where some of the greats have once sledded.

- How often do you get to go there and race 'cause they're like time trials, correct?

- Oh, exactly.

So I can go out to one of the two facilities in the US to practice and train multiple times throughout the year, but our season stretches between November and basically January, February, March-ish.

And so based on that, we'll get a few, we'll get to run a few times leading up to the race, but a lot of our training is off ice.

A lot of our training is with the team, speed, coordination and strength training.

They have an unbelievable coaching staff that they've been able to welcome us and it's been a great opportunity to really train with some of the greatest athletes here and there from the US.

- Well you're doing that when you're together, but what are you doing when you're not with them, obviously?

Do you have like zoom exercises or something?

- Exactly.

So you know, I'm fortunate to have a great sprint coach that has helped me out.

I've known him for a long time, Randy Anderson of Illinois Wesleyan University.

And he's been able to give me some great facilities to train in.

But basically we're just trying to keep the speed up as much as possible.

He's put me in a lot, a lot of speed training, strength training.

And we have different workouts Team USA will give us to stay fit, especially come summertime when there's no ice or mountains over in this area of the country.

(Christine laughs) - Well, there's really not.

Well, before we get into all of the positions that you do, we were talking about equipment.

There's not a lot of equipment for you.

- There's not a lot.

It's kind of a scary feeling going down the track 80 to 90, but our main piece of equipment is our helmet as you can see.

- [Christine] Here's the helmet right here.

- Basically, I would say that besides the helmet, we have a speed suit and a burn vest.

And the burn vest is like a slim piece of rubber that we wear that kind of covers our arms to keep us, if we do crash, from getting ice burn at that speed.

And besides that, it's the bobsled hopefully taking most of the hit and hopefully we're gonna be okay after that.

But you just gotta trust your pilot.

- Honestly.

And this just comes from watching "Cool Runnings."

- "Cool Runnings" off just a complete joke.

And it turned into reality.

And I've been fortunate enough to have some great teammates.

- Is your sister just so proud of you?

- She's very proud.

You know, I did not think she would think this would take off, but it has in a very unique way.

- All right, so you do a two-man and a four-man bobsled.

And I was researching.

Bobsledding started in the 1880s.

And so obviously they didn't have a whole lot of equipment.

And you are, everybody's a pusher.

So tell me about the coordination of all that.

- Yeah, well, basically on the four-man sled, all four of us are pushing at the very start.

And the idea of bobsled is to push as fast as you can at the beginning, so gravity will take us down the track faster.

And so we'll get to the end with a great time.

And so we all are at the start line and we have a go call.

And basically once our pilot says go, it's an immediate push and we all hit the sled at the same time.

And the force of that drives us down the ice at such great speed and then we all hop in in order and then just hang on and start hoping we don't crash.

And so... - Wow.

And you're the brakeman, so you're the last one in.

- [Charles] Absolutely.

- So you have to hope that they all get tucked in there really the way they're supposed to in order for you to fit in there.

- Exactly.

- Have you ever like missed?

- You know, I've not ever fallen out of the sled, but it has happened before and it is very dangerous.

That is probably the most dangerous part of bobsled is at the beginning if they miss the sled, miss getting in the sled, you now ride a frozen waterslide down at a very high speed with nothing surrounding you.

And so that would be potentially very dangerous to people.

- So you're holding on then.

You would be holding on?

- Yep.

So once I jump in that sled, we have two handles and you're just holding on for dear life.

And if we don't, if we miss the sled, it's a very bad situation.

So our first rule is always we get in the sled and make sure we get in the sled no matter what.

- And you gotta trust your.

Yeah, there's a lot of trust there.

- Oh, absolutely.

Especially in the pilot because the bobsledding is out of my control once the start has taken off.

And once he, our pilot is maneuvering us through the track, it's all gonna come down to him and getting us the best possible time.

So we just wanna give him the best start as possible.

- Uh-huh.

So are you doing that, you know, that feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme?

- You know that's a great point from the movie.

That's great.

We need to come up with one from Eureka, right?

(both laughing) ♪ Eureka, we have a bobsled - A bobsled team, there you go.

- All right, so you have a pilot.

You have a couple of pushers that their only job is pushing that to get the velocity to get, so gravity will pull you.

- Absolutely.

- And then you're the brakeman.

So first, let's talk about what does the pilot do to steer that thing?

- Yeah, so on a bobsled, there's no steering wheel and they have two D-rings is what they call 'em.

And they're kind of connected to a pulley system because a bobsled is on forerunners, no wheels, just runners.

And so this pulley system is gonna adjust the bobsled runners to steer him.

And so based on that, he's just gonna be pulling those runners.

And we're in the back.

I'm the brake guy, so I have the brake in my hand.

And we don't touch that brake until we cross the finish line.

It is a hundred percent speed down before we pull that brake.

But it's very, very important we pull that brake at the end.

- I guess.

All right, so where is the brake, I mean?

- So the brake is located in the floor and it's a mechanism that once you pull, it puts a spike into the ice to cause friction to slow you down.

- Ooh.

So but you're not going to do a face plant or anything there?

- No, hopefully not.

But if we don't pull that brake, the speed will take us off the track and the track will come to an end at some point.

So we do wanna make sure we pull that on time.

- Into the audience.

- [Charles] Yep.

(Christine laughs) Uh-huh.

- Wow.

All right, so the pilot is, how is the pilot chosen?

- So the pilot basically has been doing it a few more years.

He's been practicing on different tracks.

And they have kind of from a younger age been trained to pilot.

Compared to a brakeman, right?

A brakeman just needs to push as fast as he can to get in the sled.

And basically, we have a less, or there's a lot less learning involved in pushing the bobsled than driving.

And so I was able to pick up the sport very fast just on that.

- Because of your cross country and your baseball here?

- The baseball, basketball and football.

And it all translated into bobsled.

You can't bobsled in high school, but you know, all these sports have different attributes that really contribute to pushing a bobsled.

- That's just amazing.

It's just incredible that you're doing that, so.

All right, so there's only a couple of official tracks in town.

Where else can you get any practice in then?

- Yeah, so we were fortunate enough, team USA has an indoor push facility out in Lake Placid, New York.

They just did a hundred million dollar remodel out there.

It's an unbelievable facility.

And this indoor push track, during the summertime we can go out there and they have just a slope that looks like our beginning on a real bobsled course.

But this is an indoor push track and just resets for us every time we push this fake sled down.

So we can get a lot of practice on real ice come summertime.

And really just helps us prepare because when it comes time to compete, we compete against 40 different nations around the world.

And so been able to make so many great friends.

We can really bring team USA to the best potential possible.

- Uh-huh.

So what is it gonna take for you to try out, qualify, possibly qualify for Team USA Olympics 2024?

- Yeah, so absolutely.

The Olympics aren't for a little while yet, but to qualify for that team, we're just gonna continue to work as hard as we can.

And wherever that brings us, we're gonna be fortunate.

It's gonna come down to a couple days before basically their Olympic trials they hold, and based on that, they're gonna have the team decided of who's gonna go to Milan, Italy.

- But it will be the whole team.

It's not just individuals.

- Yeah, so we'll be going as a sled.

- Okay.

- There'll be multiple sleds that go.

And we have faith in our pilot.

We've had a really great rookie season and we're just gonna do the best we can.

- It's just amazing.

One thing when I was trying to look things up, you know, it's like USA bobsled and skeleton, and I'm thinking, "Okay, so you know what's skeleton?"

But I mean you could become a skeleton if you're racing, right?

- Yep, yep.

- Tell me that.

- Explain.

- Yeah, so skeleton is also another sport that's like bobsled.

I've tried it a few times.

That sport is very crazy too.

It's a headfirst on the ice.

We've probably seen it once in a while at the Olympics, right?

And so this sport consists of being two inches off the ice, going down the track and still hitting that 80 to 90 miles an hour going head first.

- Head first.

- And so that is a one person on that little sled.

It looks like a little lunch tray.

And you're just going that fast on that ice.

And so I tried that for a little bit.

I'm thinking, "This is not for me.

I prefer bobsledding."

- Good for you.

(Charles laughs) So I also read that, so you do two-man also and you're the brakeman.

And who your same pilot as in four-man?

- Same pilot for two and four-man.

And he's a great guy out of Pennsylvania, but he's been doing it a while, just really experienced.

- Well, they have some small mountains in Pennsylvania.

- Smaller, you know, smaller hills, a little more here than Illinois.

(both laughing) - All right.

And then there's a weight limit for each sled.

- Yeah.

- You can't surpass what?

- Yeah, so there's a certain limit.

I'm not sure what the IBSF, the International Bobsled Skeleton Federation set it to be.

But I do know that Team USA, they push us to be as heavy as possible while as fast as possible 'cause the more weight we can get in the sled, the faster the sled will go.

And so we wanna make sure we push that weight limit right on the edge without going over it to be disqualified.

So we're looking for different athletes that can get a lot of mass, but still be able to have a very fast sprint time and be able to move.

- [Christine] You don't need any sumo wrestlers on that?

- Nope, not quite.

(both laughing) - Well, so that requires a specific diet then too?

- [Charles] Yeah.

- Really high in protein or what?

- Yeah, so we have a very specific diet that we use.

It's very high protein, low sugars, but really we're fortunate enough to have different cooks out at the USA facility, out in Lake Placid, New York, that can give us an idea of what we can eat to gain this weight or to cut and lose weight.

And so, based on that, they really have been able to give me great insight in what I can eat and what I can't, so.

- What are your favorites?

- Oh, I love eggs.

You know, you can't go wrong with high protein.

I love that kind of diet.

But I've, for the longest time, cut sugar out and been very strict about what I eat.

- Well, okay, so you're not there with them right now.

You will be March.

- [Charles] Yep.

- And then when do you?

You'll have some qualifying in March as well?

- Yeah, so in March, we're gonna be racing back in the North American Cup and we're gonna be racing against the same nations that we've been all season, the friends we've developed there.

And basically, we are gonna have some qualifications every time we're on the ice.

We just wanna impress the coaches as much as possible.

So if we can go out there, just do the best we can, put up a great time, you know, I'm gonna be satisfied with this run.

- So it's almost like a bobsled combine.

- Basically.

- Every time we're out there to impress somebody.

- Yeah.

How many North American Cup teams are there?

- You know, there's a few.

It depends on the race, but we've had.

I've met people from Korea, met people from Taiwan, everywhere from Egypt and Trinidad and Tobago.

So even a small, small island country like that.

So I've made great friends all over.

It just depends per race, but we get so many different countries out and it's a great opportunity every time to share and meet with each and every person.

- Yeah.

So what's been the most exciting thing about this whole adventure that you're on?

- Oh, I would say exciting would probably be in Whistler, Canada, my first time ever.

We're going down the track.

We're in a two-man bobsled and we're getting close to 90 miles an hour.

Our pilot takes us up about 13 feet into one of the corner 12 and 13.

And he flipped us.

(Christine gasps) First crash ever.

And we rode on our head a quarter mile at that speed.

And I was thinking to myself, "I'm from Illinois.

How did I wind up here in Canada?"

- What am I doing?

(Charles laughs) - Exactly.

- So, but it was a great eye-opening experience and still great to bond and connect with our teammates.

- But you weren't injured in there?

- Was not injured.

We did go get checked out by Team USA Medicine, but we were able to walk away with that one okay.

And it just shows what happens in bobsled if you don't ride completely down on the runners and on your head instead.

- Wow.

All right, so when you're going up on either side and moving around, I mean that's when you can really flip, correct?

- Yeah, no, absolutely.

So there's one of these corners, it's the hardest track in the world in Canada up in Whistler and they have a corner called the 50/50 corner and that basically means going into that you have a 50% chance you're not gonna flip.

It's such a tight corner.

- But there's a 50 that you will.

- Yeah, exactly, there's a 50% chance we won't.

- [Christine] So, let's look at it the won't.

- I like that.

- Okay, I got it.

- Yeah, so going into that corner, you're basically pinned on the wall vertical and it's a crazy experience 'cause the g-force is holding you on at that speed.

So it's a very tight track and very windy, but just maneuvering it is very tough for the pilots.

- Well, I can tell those Gs have been pulling on you because you have no wrinkles.

- Oh, I know.

(both laughing) No, no.

No, but it is a neat sport.

You just never hear a lot about it.

And so, it's uh- - And why would we in Central Illinois?

- Exactly, exactly.

- I mean, think about it.

- So I've been very fortunate enough to be that one from Central Illinois that was chosen to work out with some of the great athletes from here and there and it just is an honor.

I'm just every day very honored to be able to be a part of that team.

- And this happened, when did you start?

This is your rookie season?

- Yep, so this is my rookie season and I went to my combine out in New York starting this last October 30th.

And so I haven't been doing it that long.

Some of the pilots have been for a couple years, but this has just been a couple months for me and we're gonna go from there and see where this takes us.

- How was it determined that you're a brakeman?

- [Charles] Yeah, absolutely.

- And not just, not a pusher?

And did you ever wanna be a pilot?

- No, that is possibly in the future.

You never know.

I got chosen for brakes based on my ability to push the fastest from the very back.

And so we were timed on each position where we would be fastest pushing out this sled and my fastest time was the brake.

And so I had a big responsibility to make sure we pull that at the very end and not forget that.

- So is it in front of you or is it?

- Yeah, so just in front of me.

It's two little handles for the most part.

And based on those handles, you just pull it as hard as you can, pulling it into the ice and causing you to slow down at the very end.

There is times the brake fails or the brake goes out.

It happened to the Swiss team at one of the competitions we were at and they went straight through the end of the track to the parking lot.

(laughs) - [Christine] Oh!

- Wound up with their sled in the parking lot.

(Christine laughs) - Hope it wasn't damaged.

- [Charles] No, I hope not either.

- So you are in the same sled all the time.

Do you have to care for it or do you have maintenance people who are?

- Yeah, exactly.

So we do have people that can help us get the runners on, take the runners off, but for the most part we care for our own sled.

So when we traveled all across Canada to get to Whistler, we were maintaining that sled ourselves.

So making sure the runners were polished, cleaned up properly.

We made sure a different suspension was in place before our race.

So we had someone come and check it out to make sure ahead of time, but we did a lot of the maintenance on it, and every sled surprisingly does a lot of their own maintenance on their own sleds.

- Well, and you have a lot of experience because you worked at the Ford dealership with maintenance and things like that.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- [Charles] I've done that.

- So you could keep those runners polished, right?

- Absolutely.

- [Christine] Your dad would be so proud.

- Exactly, exactly.

- So what, I mean your little sister said, "Hey, you could do this," or, I mean, how bizarre is that that she thought that was a possibility for you?

- I think it might've started off as a joke and I did this joke to kind of prove her wrong and it just took off from there.

But I'd never in a million years would've thought I'd be at this spot.

(Christine laughs) - And you love it.

- It's absolutely an unbelievable sport.

I mean, it's great.

It's an adrenaline rush every time you go down the track.

And you just wanna get the fastest time possible.

So we're always looking for that perfect run every chance we can.

- What is the fastest time that you've?

- Yeah, no, absolutely.

So in Canada, we were pushing low 90s, high 80s.

That was probably the fastest we've ever done.

Every track's a little different.

- [Christine] Yeah, how long is the track?

- And so the track can be a little over a mile to sometimes under a mile.

The Canada one, it can take us about 58 seconds to get down the track.

And so it's about a 58 second, 80, 90 mile an hour run down a brisk mountain in Canada.

And it's an unbelievable experience, but for the most part, every track's different.

So that's why it's so crucial the pilot knows the track beforehand, knows the corners.

And I encourage people to look up a first person view of what a bobsled looks like 'cause it's unbelievable.

- Of the run itself- - [Charles] Of the run itself.

- Or of the inside of it?

- Of the run itself.

It's such a fast-paced sport.

And at that speed, it's coming at you so fast.

It's hard to comprehend.

- Oh yeah.

I can't even imagine.

I mean, going in a car, you got a lot of protection around you and if you can hit 90, that's pretty good.

But my, oh my.

- Exactly.

- So what do your mom and dad think about, this is kind of a dangerous sport?

- That was a very great question.

Well, my mom and dad were probably not on board right at first.

My mom was a little worried at first because- - [Christine] Moms are like that.

- Exactly.

But you know, they've grown to love the sport.

Once they've seen, we've only crashed a couple times here and there.

You know, we're okay so far.

So they're becoming more on board as we go, so.

- And are they able to attend when you're going to these different places?

- Yeah, so my dad was able to come out to Park City, Utah.

We had a race out there and it was great to have the family out there to support us.

It was great.

We were able to take some photos together and just to have your dad support you is unbelievable, and so.

Sometimes it's tough for 'em to make it to Canada or another country like that, but for the most part, they're gonna try to make it to the ones they can, so.

I'm very thankful for that.

- But, and how often do you get to Park City?

- So Park City, we'll probably go there a couple times a year.

I'm planning on doing some training out in Park City this summer and I'm gonna go out to New York this summer too to get some off season training.

But for the most part, I would say that we'll race out there twice, at least twice in the North American Cup.

- All right.

And then funding, you have to come up with your own funding to get to all these places.

- Yeah, so a lot of, some of the funding is covered between coaching fees, track and racing and insurance and stuff like that, but for the most part, I gotta fly out there myself.

So if I can fly out to, I'm gonna fly out in March to Lake Placid, New York, but they will house us, feed us out there for free, which is awesome.

I just have to get my way out there and get the flight.

- Okay.

I'll slip you down there.

- There we go.

- That'll help.

All right, so I guess I don't really have to ask you about what's on your bucket list, but let's hear it just in case.

- Yep.

No, absolutely.

So this is, this was definitely the top of my bucket list now, so we did this.

So I don't know what we got next, you know.

So what can top bobsled in the future?

I'm not sure, but I wanna say we're the same for the Olympics, right?

Can't go wrong.

We're gonna do the best we can and we're gonna go from there.

- Yeah.

And then how long does it take to find out if your team has qualified for the Olympics?

- Yeah, so we won't know for at least a couple years leading up to the Olympics.

Basically, we're gonna know once we do team trials and that's like the Olympic trials itself.

If we, if our sled qualifies and is fast enough to be able to represent the United States of America, it's just gonna be an honor.

And so we're just gonna do the best we can in the meantime and go from there.

- Who makes bobsleds?

Do you get 'em in the United States or I mean anywhere elsewhere?

- Yeah so, they're very, they're very tough to find too.

So there's only a couple manufacturers that make 'em.

We have different sponsorships from Under Armour and Mercedes and different sponsors like that that are able to help fund, but for the most part, a lot of 'em are made over in Europe.

It's a very big sport over in Germany and Switzerland and it's tough to compete with those guys sometimes, but.

- [Christine] Well, because they can do it all the time.

- Exactly.

They can do it every day just about and so it's very big over there, but we do I think get our manufactured bobsleds from there.

- Okay, well that's great.

Anything else you need to add to your story?

- Oh, you know, I'm just very, very fortunate to be a part of this great, I mean, great group of people that I'm with, an unbelievable amount of teammates.

I really, I couldn't have done it without all the coaches, especially Jerry Rashid, you know, Dane Wear at Eureka High School.

All those baseball coaches and sports coaches throughout the years has helped me translate this into bobsledding.

So it's been an unbelievable opportunity.

- And their as proud of you as can be.

even though you're not doing - I appreciate that.

their sport.

- [Charles] I appreciate that.

- Yeah, yeah.

So will you have them come out to see any of your time tryouts, do you think?

- You know, that's the goal.

I would love to invite 'em one time and see if they can see how baseball translated into bobsled and maybe give 'em a ride down.

Right?

Give a ride down the track at one point.

(laughs) - Oh yeah.

- With you holding the brakes the whole way down.

- That's right.

Exactly, exactly.

- You can just kind of hop down.

Well, thank you so much.

How much fun to find out that somebody from Central Illinois is doing his thing completely different than anybody else.

- I appreciate you having me on the show.

- [Christine] Well, follow your dreams.

- Thank you.

- All right, we'll follow you too.

All right, thank you for joining us.

I hope you learned a lot about bobsledding and this wonderful young man, Charles.

And you have a good day.

Stay safe and healthy and hold happiness.

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