Athletes

A member of the U.S. National Women's Bobsled Team since 1994, Jill Bakken earned a gold medal with teammate Vonetta Flowers in the inaugural Olympic two-woman bobsled event at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City . Bakken joined the U.S. women's bobsled team during its first camp in 1994 at the age of 17 and became the youngest bobsledder in the history of women's competition. She won first place in the U.S. Women Driver Push Competition in July 2001 and third place at the 2001 Park City World Cup race. Bakken, along with then-partner Shauna Rohbock, placed third at the 2001 U.S. National Championships. Along with the USA I team of Jean Racine and Jen Davidson, Bakken was a recipient of the United States Olympic Committee's (USOC) first Team of the Month award (January 1999). In 1998, Bakken was a finalist for the Women's Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year Award. Ranked in the top 10 since 1995, she won the first gold and silver medals in U.S. women's bobsled history with brakeman Meg Henderson at the International World Cup held in December 1997 in Utah. She also won a gold medal with teammate Elena Primerano at the International Push Competition in Gotha, Germany, in August of 1997. Also in 1997, her third year of international competition, Bakken finished second in both the World Cup overall and the World Championship. In 1995, Bakken was a National Dial Award nominee and the USOC Sportswoman of the Year for Bobsledding and in 2002, Bakken received the Olympic Spirit Award and was a finalist for the Sportswoman of the Year-Team honor. (10/02)