How did you get started in skeleton?
I ran track-and-field in high school, and during my junior year, one of my coaches told me that she was recruiting track and field athletes to try bobsledding. The only thing I knew about bobsledding was from the movie, Cool Runnings, but a couple of days later I found myself barreling down an icy shoot. It was a blast! I did bobsled for a year and then the following year, my bobsled coach had me try skeleton. I instantly fell in love with the speed and rhythm, and after that I just never looked back.

You had an accident in 2006 that kept you out of the Olympics. Can you tell us more about that?
Going into the 2006 season, I was ranked first in the world. I had very high hopes of having my Olympic dream come true—I was so close to it that I just didn't see how anything could stop me. During our U.S. Olympic trials in October 2005, I had just finished my training runs for the day and was waiting with four other teammates for a truck to come and take us back up to the top of the track.

As we were sitting on the dock, waiting for another skeleton athlete to come down, we heard a loud rumble. A four-man bobsled was screaming past the finish line and no one was pulling on the brakes. We all immediately jumped to our feet to move out of the way, but I was trapped for a split-second. Suddenly, I felt myself flying through the air and landing on the asphalt below.

I remember trying to jump to my feet, and my leg wouldn't respond. That was when I looked down and saw my bones protruding from my lower right leg. I had a compound fracture of my tibia and fibula, and doctors had to insert a titanium rod into my bone that is the length of my shin.