Get to know aspiring Olympic bobsledder, Ramapo HS alum Lauren Brzozowski
FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J. — Lauren Brzozowski remembers riding her sled after snowstorms down the hill at Sicomac Elementary School.
“Riding my sled was my favorite winter activity,” said Lauren.
This may have been an accurate prophecy, since Lauren is now spending her days riding a bobsled and mono bobsled down the “hill” at the Whistler Sliding Centre.
“I am training to hopefully make the US Olympic team for the 2026 Olympics,” said Lauren.
Lauren’s course to the sport started not in the snow but on a running track.
A 2015 graduate of Ramapo High School, Lauren was a member of the track and field team.
She received a full athletic scholarship to Elon University and was a member of their Division I Women’s Track and Field team.
“I ran in the individual 200m and 400m and was the anchor for the 4 x 4 race,” said Lauren.
It was after meeting fellow Elon track sensation Veronica Day that an idea snowballed.
“Veronica was a skeleton athlete for Team USA and it intrigued me,” said Lauren.
After graduation, Lauren continued competing in track competitions at Loughborough University where she received a Masters Degree.
“It is the #1 ranked track university in England,” said Lauren.
After graduation in 2020, Lauren wanted to continue to compete in sports and a recruiter took notice of the 5’ 9” athlete and suggested she train for bobsled competitions.
“My sprinter background made it a good fit,” said Lauren.
Lauren competed at the Junior World Championship in Innsbruck, Austria, as well as competitions in Utah, and Lake Placid. This season she will follow the North American Cup tour and peel off for Junior World Championships in Winterberg, Germany. If she wins she will have an automatic invitation to World Championships which would be her first TV appearance for the sport.
In November, Lauren traveled to Canada to begin training and competed in runs at the Whistler Sliding Centre.
After being there only one week, she competed in mono bobsled races and placed fifth.
“I earned my first medal EVER in the sport of bobsled!” said Lauren. “I also competed against two returning Olympians and was not far off of their push or down times. This is also their home track so I think my performance speaks volumes.”
Like in all sports, there are highs and lows. On the second day of races, Lauren crashed in both runs.
“The first run I crashed out of curve 4 and popped back upright in curve 6 and finished,” said Lauren. “But the second run I had a very bad crash out of curve 4 again, except this time I never popped back up. There are 16 curves so it was a long and painful way down the track.”
The good news is Lauren still crossed the finish line and received points, finishing in 7th place.
“My win for the day was to have put out better start times, so that makes the pain hurt a bit less,” said Lauren.
In order to be considered for Olympic competition, athletes need to obtain points competing in five two woman and mono bobsled races, on three different tracks, within a two year period.
Lauren was undeterred by the crash and returned to her next race in the North American Cup circuit.
“I won my first race ever in the sport of bobsled (tied for first),” said Lauren. “It was my first race back since the crash so it means the world to finish in first place.”
It was her first time to stand on a podium and receive a medal.
Lauren explains that her first place finish in this race is equivalent to a 13th place finish on the World Cup circuit.
“This means I get the same amount of points as someone who finished 13th in the World Cup,” said Lauren “This therefore adds to my world ranking and puts me into a better position for national team selection and funding moving forward. Currently I am ranked 8th in the world for two woman bobsled and 11th for mono bobsled.”
Lauren said she “makes no money” competing in races and created a Go Fund Me account to support her endeavor.
She is driven to make her Olympic dream a reality.
“I always wanted to wear a uniform with ‘USA’ across my back,” said Lauren.
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