Vonetta and her husband Johnny in Utah (U.S. Bobsled)

Vonetta Flowers took a moment during the 2002 Winter Olympics to appreciate how different it was to compete on ice in a bobsled suit instead of on a running track in a pair of shorts. After her crushing defeat at the 2000 Olympic Track & Field Trials, Vonetta had thought her Olympic dream was dead. But her Johnny saw flyer inviting track athletes to attend a tryout for the U.S. Bobsled Team and he convinced Vonetta to give it a try with him.

They didn’t know much about bobsledding other than what they learned while watching Cool Runnings – a movie about the Jamaican bobsled team’s Olympic journey. Johnny convinced Vonetta it would be something fun for them to do together, would help take her mind off of her heartbreak, and would be an entertaining story to tell family and friends back in Alabama.

At the tryout, Johnny pulled his hamstring and had to withdraw, but encouraged Vonetta to keep going. She did very well at all six tryout stations and U.S. Bobsled asked her to join the team. Her “yes” started a whirlwind of training and traveling back and forth to locations like Park City, Utah and Germany. Her first run down a bobled track was intense – afterwards she said it felt like being placed in a trash can and thrown down a hill!

Vonetta and Jill Bakken at the 2002 Games (Team USA)

Vonetta’s strength, speed, and determination were a perfect fit for the role of brakewoman. Her job was to run the bobsled out of the starting gate. Vonetta already knew how to react quickly at the sound of a starting pistol, but had to adjust to doing so while pushing a very heavy sled in front of her. She also had to perfect the timing of when to jump into the sled and let the driver take over. It was dangerous, and Vonetta felt a thrill of relief every time she made it cleanly into her seat. Her final task was to slow the sled down at the end of the race by applying the brakes at just the right time and pressure.

Vonetta loved the thrill and camaraderie of bobsledding – the hardest part was adjusting to the cold! She worked hard to gain the 20 pounds of additional muscle she needed to push a 450 pound sled. She enjoyed the opportunity to see the world while traveling with the team. Her hard work quickly paid off, and Vonetta rose to the top of the brakewoman depth chart. She was paired with driver and team leader Bonny Warner, and by the end of Vonetta’s rookie season, they were the 2^nd ranked team in the United States and the 3^rd in the world.

Vonetta was paired with a new driver, Jill Bakken, during her second season. Vonetta and Jill headed to the Olympic Trials in Park City hoping to secure a spot on the team. It was an exciting time for the sport.  Women’s bobsled was making its debut at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games. The U.S. men hadn’t won an Olympic bobsled medal since 1956, and the women were hoping to break that drought. Vonetta and Jill finished second and earned a spot on Team USA. Vonetta’s Olympics dream was coming true – just not in the way she had planned!

Vonetta soaked in every moment of the Opening Ceremony, crying tears of joy as she entered the stadium with the rest of Team USA. Hearing the cheers of the home crowd yelling “USA, USA” filled her with pride in herself and her country. She was so grateful for the chance to be there, and didn’t mind that she and Jill weren’t expected to medal because the second ranked sled on any country’s team rarely did. She was just glad her mom, husband, and childhood track coach would be at the finish line to celebrate her Olympic dream with her.

Vonetta and Jill after their Gold Medal winning race (Team USA)

The morning of February 19, 2002, Vonetta woke up early, excited to compete. There were 15 teams vying for the gold. Each team took two runs, which were added together for the final standings. Vonetta and Jill were 10^th in line. Right before their start, Vonetta said a prayer for a safe run and took her place at the back of the sled. She put every ounce of strength and soul she had into pushing the sled. After jumping in and ducking down, she felt Jill navigate the twists and turns of the course smoothly and knew things were going well. As the sled glided to a stop after the finish line, they looked up at the scoreboard. USA 2 was at the top! They watched the last five sleds of the heat race and ended Heat 1 in first place.

Vonetta as the Star Spangled Banner plays after receiving her Olympic Gold medal (Team USA)

The pressure was on. Vonetta and Jill hadn’t expected to be on top, but now they wanted to stay there. They waited and watched in Heat 2 until it was finally their turn. Vonetta again said a prayer for a safe run, and off they went. At the finish, Vonetta knew they had done their very best and hoped it would be enough. It was. USA 2 was again at the top of the leaderboard. They waited on pins and needles for the rest of the field to finish and no one caught them. The Gold was theirs.

Vonetta stood on the Gold medal platform with Jill and soaked in every minute. It was just like she had imagined when she was a 9 year old. The only difference from her dream was that she was wearing a bobsled uniform instead of track and field shorts and tank! As the Star Spangled Banner started to play, Vonetta couldn’t hold back her tears. And then her Olympic dream got even sweeter when Team USA voted for Vonetta and Jill to carry the American flag in the Closing Ceremony.

The Power of the Wand

Vonetta was the first person of African descent – from any country – to win a Winter Olympics Gold medal. Vonetta was only the second African-American athlete to compete for Team USA in the Winter Olympics (the first was figure skater Debi Thomas, who won the Bronze at the 1988 Calgary Games). Afterwards, Vonetta shared her hope to inspire others: “to win a gold medal for your country is simply awesome. Hopefully this will encourage other African-American boys and girls to give winter sports a try.”

One athlete following the trail blazed by Vonetta is Maame Biney. Maame was only 18 when she became the first African-American woman (and youngest skater) to make the U.S. Olympic Short Track Speed Skating Team at the 2018 Winter Olympics. She finished 14^th in the 500m and 31^st in the 1500m. After winning Gold medals at the 2019 World Junior Championships (500m) and the 2021 U.S. Championships (500m, 1000m, and 1500m), Maame is ready to go for the Gold at the 2022 Bejing Games.

Her Yellow Brick Road

Vonetta first gained national attention as a track & field student athlete at the University of Alabama Birmingham. She arrived on campus for her freshman year ready to work and study hard. Her attitude fit in well with new UAB assistant coach Rod Tiffin, whose philosophy emphasized effort, teamwork, and developing “the complete person, not just the complete athlete.” Vonetta concentrated on her strengths: the 100 and 200 meter sprints, the long jump, and the triple jump.

Vonetta’s college track & field picture at UAB (UAB)

College track & field has indoor and outdoor seasons, so Vonetta trained nearly year round. It was a heavy load being a full time student with a full time sport, but she was able to handle the pressue. Vonetta broke three freshman school records and won the Great Midwest Conference 1993 Rookie of the Year honor. Her next three years of college competition were just as successful, with one win after another. Vonetta set 11 school and conference records and won 35 conference titles. She was named Great Midwest Conference MVP 6 times and selected as an NCAA All American 7 times. She won long jump championships at the 1994 Penn Relays and the 1995 U.S. Olympic Festival.

Outside of her college events, Vonetta competed in 9 different U.S. Track and Field National Championship events and qualified for the 1995 World University Games. However, all the running and jumping took a toll on Vonetta’s body. She dealt with nagging hip, knee and ankle injuries and had to take time away from training for various surgeries to repair the damage. Even with her injuries, Vonetta qualified for the 100m dash and the long jump at the 1996 Olympic Trials in Atlanta, Georgia. Vonetta had dreamed of the Olympics since she was 9 years old.

Vonetta arrived at the new Centennial Stadium, built for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, believing she was about to make her Olympic dream come true. Her first event was the 100m dash and she competed in Heat 2 of the qualifying round. But it wasn’t her day – she finished 6^th in her heat and didn’t move on to the semifinals. Vonetta worked hard over the following week to regroup in time for the long jump. But while it was a thrill to compete in the same event as her Olympic idol, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Vonetta again was eliminated in the qualifying round. She was heartbroken.

Vonetta giving it her all in the long jump (VonettaFlowers.com)

Vonetta returned to UAB to finish her physical education degree. After graduation, she got a job as an assistant track & field coach at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa and decided to make another run at her Olympic dream. She knew it would be a challenge to stay healthy, so she narrowed her focus to a single event – the long jump. She spent the next few years training to make Team USA for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. But the wear and tear crept up on her again, and just a few months before the Olympic Trials, Vonetta had her fifth surgery in 8 years. Vonetta knew she was now a longshot to make Team USA, but still wanted to try. She traveled to Sacramento and gave her long jump her all. She jumped 3.25 inches farther than she did in 1996, but again didn’t make it out of the qualifying round.

Vonetta decided it was time to say goodbye to her Olympic dream. Her body couldn’t handle another 4 years of intense training and her chance at making the team as a 30 year old were nearly zero. It was time to focus on “the rest of her life” and start a family with Johnny. But then Johnny told her about a flyer he saw at the Trials inviting track athletes to a tryout for the U.S. Bobsled Team. Vonetta was a southern girl who had rarely even seen snow, but the dying flame of her Olympic dream started to burn brighter again.

Brains, Heart & Courage 

Vonetta was a little girl who loved to run. Her family started chasing her around as soon as she could walk. After her parents got divorced, Vonetta and her three brothers lived with her mom, who signed her up for a variety of rec programs. The weather in their hometown of Birmingham, Alabama was mild enough that Vonetta could run outside pretty much all year long.

There was a track team in Birmingham called the Marvel City Striders. One of its coaches, DeWitt Thomas, scouted kids who had the potential to be competitive runners. He arranged tryouts at local schools to identity and recruit the fastest kids in town for the team. Vonetta was so excited when she heard Coach Thomas was going to visit her school, Jonesboro Elementary. She was one of the fastest kids at school, and now she would have a chance to prove it. She was a 9 year old with a misson!

At the tryout, Vonetta bounced up and down waiting for her turn to run the sprint across the school parking lot. Coach Thomas waited at the finish line, where he recorded each runner’s name and time. He had to write fast to keep the process moving, so he only wrote down the first initial and last name of each kid. When he was done, he sorted the list from fastest to slowest and sat down to call the parents of those at the top to invite them to join the team. His first call was to the Jeffrey home, because V. Jeffrey had run the fastest time. He assumed it was a boy named Victor or Vincent – and was quite surprised to hear from that V. stood for Vonetta!

Vonetta ran for the Striders for the next 10 years. Coach Thomas believed in her abilities, telling her from the start she had the potential to be the next Jackie Joyner Kersee. She just had to work hard and believe it was possible. Everything about Vonetta’s running career pointed to future Olympic glory – she wone nearly every race she entered. She learned how to combine her natural talent with discipline to get results.

Vonetta celebrating an emotional win as her Olympic dream came true

Fourteen year old Vonetta watched Jackie and other American track stars compete in the 1988 Summer Olympics and redoubled her efforts to to follow in their footsteps one day. She decided to cross train with other sports and played three sports at Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham: volleyball, basketball (she was All-State!), and track & field. But her first love was training and competing with the track and field team. Even there, she wasn’t content to only run, and began working on the long jump. There were times that she wished she wasn’t missing so much of regular high school life for track – she often had to skip dances to go to meets. But she wanted that Olympic dream more.

The other amazing thing track & field was the world itopened up to her. Nobody in Vonetta’s family had ever attended college, and she wanted to be the first. The University of Alabama Birmingham offered her a full scholarship to compete for its Track & Field team. She started studying and competing there in Fall of 1992.

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Just the Facts

• Vonetta Jeffrey was born in Birmingham, Alabama on October 29, 1973.
• Vonetta is a member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. She was inducted in 2011.
• Vonetta was one of UAB’s most decorated athletes. She returned to UAB as a track and field coach in 2000.
• Vonetta took some time off from the U.S. Bobsled Team after the 2002 Olympics to start a family. Her twin boys, Jaden and Jorden, were born three months early, on August 30, 2002. Jorden was born deaf. Vonetta and her husband Johnny pursued an experimental surgery for him that was only offered in Italy, where the 2004 Olympics were to be held. They decided it was a sign that Vonetta should go back to the sport for one more Games. The family moved to Italy for Vonetta to train and to prepare for Jorden’s surgery. 
• Vonetta returned to bobsled when her twins were 5 months old. Her gold medal partner Jill Bakken was taking a break from the sport, so she was paired with driver Jean Racine Prahm. Vonetta and Jean won a Bronze medal at the 2004 World Championships, placed 5^th at the 2005 World Championships and finished 6^th at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy. Vonetta retired from bobsled after the 2006 Games.
• Today Vonetta lives in Jacksonville, Florida with Johnny and their three sons.
• The Marvel City Striders, where Vonetta got her start, still compete today as the Alabama Striders.
• Vonetta is the honorary co-chair of the 2022 World Games, happening in her hometown of Birmingham July 7-17, 2022.  

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