John Daly

A standout track and field athlete in college, John Daly used his experience training for the pentathlon, decathlon and long jump to springboard into a successful career in the sport of skeleton. He was born, in Queens, N.Y. In sixth grade, he tried sliding sports for the first time, initially luge before switching to skeleton. Inspired by U.S. speed skater Dan Jansen winning a gold medal in the 1994 Olympics, Daly himself decided he wanted to be an Olympian. He competed in track and field in high school and also at Plattsburgh State University, where he earned All-American honors in 2007 in the decathlon. After graduating with a degree in public relations and advertising in 2008, Daly began to seriously pursue skeleton racing. Because each race began with a sprint, he thought his track experience gave him an advantage. On the European Cup circuit in 2008-09, he won two events and finished second overall that season. More gold medals followed for Daly a year later in Intercontinental Cup racing, part of a streak of six consecutive wins that helped him earn a spot on Team USA for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, where he finished 17th. With an eye on becoming a two-time Olympian, his training intensified in the ensuing years to include a steady diet of World Cup skeleton races, and he just missed a podium finish at the 2013 World Championships, finishing a career-best fifth. The additional experience and better preparation almost paid off at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia. He put himself into position to win a medal after three heats, but he slipped at the start of his fourth and final run, a mistake that left him in 15th place. Devastated, Daly retired from the sport, moved to Washington, D.C., and began working in medical sales. But his passion for competition, and the Olympics in particular, spurred a comeback in 2017. Feeling refreshed mentally and physically, he won his first official race after returning and eventually qualified for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.