Before she knew it, Davis was on the phone with Evan Weinstock, a former collegiate track & field athlete who transitioned to bobsled upon graduating. The Olympian told her that track athletes, especially with resumes as impressive as hers, often succeed in bobsled because the skills are so transferable. In a bobsled race, brakemen must start with a burst of speed, pushing the sled as fast as they can for 30 meters before jumping in.
Accustomed to sprinting 100 or 200 meters, Davis ceded that 30 meters didn’t sound so bad. But when she looked up a bobsled race at Weinstock’s request, she immediately saw a crash.
“No way,” she told Weinstock.
But he insisted.
“Trust me, it’s fun,” Weinstock pleaded. “Just go to the Combine. Promise me that.”
Within a month, Davis was at the USA Bobsled Combine in Chula Vista, Calif. The event — similar to the NFL Combine — gives athletes a chance to show off their speed and strength by participating in a 45-meter sprint, a broad jump and a shotput toss. Those who score above 500 points earn a trip to Rookie Camp in Lake Placid, New York.
Davis scored 506.
At Rookie Camp, athletes who finished in the Top 3 went to Team Trials with the veterans.
Davis came in second.
At Team Trials, athletes who finished in the Top 3 made the USA Bobsled World Cup Team.
Davis came in third.
“It happened so fast,” she said. “My coach told me about bobsled in June. I talked to Evan in June. The Combine was June 24. The Rookie Push Camp was in late August. Team Trials were in October. Selection was in November and we traveled in December. Each week was something new and I kept making it, kept making it, kept making it.”
Thanks to her quick learning and natural athleticism, Davis made history once again as the first Trojan to ever make the USA Bobsled Team.
“It’s cool to me to be the first woman to do that, and on top of that to be black,” she explained. “A lot of times being African American, it’s hard to make history in certain sports. And being a female as well, I have little girls who look up to me. I’ve had people message me excited that I made history at USC.”
Davis’ history-making accomplishment is even more impressive considering she’s one of just nine women on Team USA, and one of just six on the USA’s World Cup team, which participates in the highest level of international competition. Most rookies are assigned to the USA’s development team, which only competes in North America, but just a few short months after catching wind of the sport, Davis was racing in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Despite the toll these international bobsled races have taken on her body, Davis wears a constant smile. Her arms and legs are covered in bruises and she’s suffered ice burns and a concussion, but she credits her time at USC with giving her the mental toughness to persevere.
“I’ve always been taught to Fight On,” the exuberant young woman said. “From [former USC track & field coach] Ron Allice to [current USC track & field coach] Caryl Smith-Gilbert, who coached me for a year, we were taught to put 110 percent effort into everything we did.”
Ten years after representing her country on the junior track circuit, Davis is finishing up her first season bobsledding for the Red, White and Blue. It all culminates at the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation World Championships next month in Whistler, British Columbia — the fastest track in the world.
“I would love a medal,” Davis explained. “But just competing for my country is super fun. I get on the line, and they say ‘USA — Jessica Davis.’ When I hear them say that, it means the world.”
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