Greg West close to earning Olympic Skeleton team slot
Greg West close to earning Olympic Skeleton team slot
Former resident has lots of family living in South Baldwin County
Greg West, Jr., an aspiring Olympian with numerous connections to South Baldwin County, is currently in the #2 position of Team USA’s World Cup Skeleton team with a real chance of representing the USA in the Olympic Skeleton competition.
Greg’s following encompasses many local friends and family, including his mom Tammie Franz, stepdad Joe Franz, grandparents Robert Epperson & Mildred Whitaker, grandparents Norman & Jeanne Franz, sister Rianna West and nephew Mason West – all living in the Gulf Shores/Foley community.
“We are extremely proud of our son,’’ said Tammie Franz. “It is a very exciting time for all of us, especially a young boy that grew up in a small town trying to do what most only dream of, representing the United States on the World Cup tour with a very real chance of competing in the Winter Olympics.’’
Greg grew up in Rogersville, Missouri, where father Greg West Sr. lives. After graduating from Baker University in Kansas, he moved to South Baldwin, where he worked in marketing. While watching the 2010 Winter Olympics with friends, he saw an advertisement that invited anyone having interest in skeleton to fill out a survey.
On a whim and off the cuff, he filled out the survey and was invited to a skeleton sliding school in Lake Placid. Greg proved to be a natural and was soon asked to move to Lake Placid to train full time.
With ceaseless determination, steely drive and monumental hard work, Greg has been able to continue to train towards his goal of competing in this February’s Winter Olympics in South Korea.
In 2014, Greg missed a position on the World Cup team by a mere two one-hundredths of a second. Entering this year’s competition, Greg holds the second of three positions on the World Cup team, just one one-hundredth of a second behind the top sledder. He will begin his fight for a position on the USA Olympic Skeleton Team during World Cup races Nov. 10-11 in Lake Placid and Nov. 17-18 in Park City,. Stay up with Greg and the team at gwskeleton.com.