Right: Bobsleds can go up to 95 mph on certain tracks.
Below: Langton doesn’t blame people who bring up the movie “Cool Runnings.” The 1993 sports comedy is “all I knew before I started bobsledding,” he says.
Are you on the same bobsled as your brother?
No, my brother is pretty much the best in the world at what he does. For some reason, he was born to push bobsleds. He will be going to these Olympics, God willing he stays healthy. He’s competing with Steve Holcomb on USA-1. They have high hopes. It’s very realistic that they win medals in the two- and four-man disciplines. For now, I’m on USA-3 and very happy to be in that spot with Cory Butner. Steve is considerably better than I am.
What’s the tryout process for the Olympics?
There will be three sleds. Each sled has a driver and what they call brakemen, which is what I do. There will be nine brakemen considered Olympians, and there will be two alternates that will be brought in case someone gets hurt and to practice with the team. The fi rst step is you try out, you do well and make the World Cup team. Then you race all season long. Come January there’s a selection committee that consists of ex-bobsledders, our CEO, our coaches. They sit down, look at different criteria — your combine score, your international results, your ability to stay healthy — and pick the Olympic team. You’ll have a good idea going in because you know where you stand after the season, but until January you don’t know for sure, about a month before the games [in Sochi, Russia].
When was the fi rst time you pushed a sled on a track? What was it like? The fi rst time I pushed on ice was early October of last year. I had this preconceived notion that it would be like a roller-coaster ride. But I was wrong. It’s a much greater rush and the movements are so abrupt. My fi rst ride I was able to keep my head up and watch the turns and see them as they came. When you’re in a race you want to keep your head down and be as aerodynamic as possible. Bobsledding is so erratic. The turns come so fast and you’re catching [G-forces] and whipping up onto a wall and coming back down before you know it. It’s such a rush.
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There are some times when you’re coming in on a fl at at 80 mph and you come through a turn and back on a fl at. You can go up to 95 mph on certain tracks. You kind of just have to be along for the ride.
What’s your job on the bobsled? In a four-man bobsled, the driver is up front and the two-guy and three- guy are behind him. They are both side-push athletes. We’re all called brakemen, but the guy in the very back is the real brakeman, because once you fi nish your run there are a set of handles that you have to reach down and pull up. It digs metal teeth into the ice to slow the sled down. I’m that fourth guy. I’m the last guy in the sled.
What do you do during a run? You’re pretty much dead weight, to be honest. Our job is to be human engines. We want to create as much speed and velocity at the top of the hill. A quick start, good velocity, and if your driver drives well, it translates into a faster time at the bottom. We go to the starting line, we have our driver on the driver’s bar, both side-push athletes are on the sides and I’m on the back. We call a cadence and sprint for about 35-40 yards as fast as you can. You load into the sled, which is a pretty diffi cult thing because you have four real big guys. I’m 6-foot, 220-pounds and I’m the smallest guy on our sled. So we load in while running at full speed on ice. You get in, and there are foot pegs and handles to brace yourself. You grab those and get as low as possible in riding position. When you’re going 80 mph down an icy track, aerodynamics has a lot to do
with your speed and time. You hang on and pray it goes well. When we get to the bottom, I pull the brakes. We pile out, get to the top and do it again.
How many comments do you get about the movie “Cool Runnings”? I was wondering when that would come up. Pretty much whenever you tell someone you bobsled. Until my brother did it, it was pretty foreign to me as well. They ask you other questions and then that comes up without fail every time. I don’t mind, because all I knew before I started bobsledding was “Cool Runnings.” Where that movie is set, in Calgary, is where our fi rst World Cup race is. It’s funny now since I’ve raced there, I can watch the movie and pick out the turns. I know what they’re going through. But that comes up pretty much every time.
— Corey McLaughlin November 2013 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 21
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