LETHBRIDGE – From spinning in the throwing circle, to fighting wild fires, to sliding down an ice filled track in a sled, Pronghorn Track and Field Alumnus Ryan Sommer is about to live his Olympic dreams in only a few short days as a member of the Canadian Olympic Bobsled team in Beijing, China.
 
"It has been a surreal few weeks since the team was announced, and it's finally starting to sink in now that I am finally here in the Olympic Village," said first-time Olympian Ryan Sommer. "This year was incredibly tense with the looming fear of missing the games due to uncertainty of what a positive covid test could mean for an athlete, but my team managed to finish the World Cup with a silver, crystal globe and a lot of confidence.
 
"It really is a dream come true to represent Canada at the Olympics and I can't wait to compete in the four man event the last two days of the games."
 
Sommer made his national team debut during the 2017-18 season with the development team, and joined the World Cup Circuit full time for the 2018-19 season and has raced every single four man events since, with 2018 Gold medalist Justin Kripps, and fellow teammates Came Stones and Ben Coakwell.
 
Sommer was a member of the 2019 IBSF World Championship bronze medal winning sled.
 
Following a five year Pronghorn career, Sommer went off to fight forest fires in northern Alberta and his own curiosity began his bobsled journey, attending an open tryout on days off in Richmond, BC during the summer of 2016.
 
Coming out of the open tryout and new interest in the sport, Sommer competed in the RBC training ground with the hopes of getting recognized and impress the Bobsled Canada Staff and began his bobsled journey with the Alberta provincial team in 2016.
 
The White Rock, B.C. product enrolled in the University of Lethbridge and joined the Pronghorn track and field team in the fall of 2011. Over the course of his five seasons as a Pronghorn, Sommer earned three Canada West medals in throwing events, winning two silver medals in the shot put event (2005, 2006) and a bronze medal in the weight throw (2015).
 
The four-man bobsled event beings on Friday, February 18^th.