Sgt. 1st Class Nate Weber took an unconventional path to becoming an Olympic bobsledder. Instead of training in a gym, he prepared for competition while deployed in Niger, Cameroon and Afghanistan.
Becoming an Olympian seemed like a long shot but Weber had to take it.
“Being in the military was the reason I was able to make it to the Olympics. I wouldn’t have done it without that,” Weber said.
It was on deployments in Niger, Cameroon and Afghanistan where he would serve as a Special Forces medic, then he would train to earn his spot on Team USA.
As the "Today" show reported, Weber trained for bobsled by pulling military vehicles, pulling large bricks and sprinting down dusty roads while overseas.
“The work ethic and the skills you pick up being a Green Beret, doing stuff like that, it really applies to Olympic sport,” Weber said.
Two other soldiers also served the Olympic bobsled team that ended the 2018 Winter Olympics ranked 20th in the 4-man competition.
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This year, his team could not score gold but his dedication to the Green Berets remains.
His first event back home from the Olympics was in Lemon Grove to meet with San Diego local retired Green Beret Travis Wilson at a skeet shooting competition to benefit the Green Beret Foundation.
“I brought home a friend from Afghanistan who I was deployed with to his family; I made sure I moved plans around to come and do this,” Weber said.
For Weber, it’s back to active duty and Olympic training for another shot at gold in the next four years
“I want to bring home a medal for everyone back here from China that what I want to do,” Weber said.
To represent his country in more ways than one.
