In brief Twenty-eight year old Vonetta Flowers grew up in one of the worst neighborhoods in Birmingham and through Track, went on to become a seven-time All-American at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.


Her future was expected to be as a medallist in the Summer Olympics, but in the Olympic trials of both 1996 and 2000, injuries limited her effectiveness and she failed to make the team either year. So, as a lark, Vonetta Flowers answered an ad placed from the U.S. Olympic Committee to try out for women's bobsled -- and she blew away the field!