A former Kentucky state track and field champion and Kentucky Wildcat triple-jump record holder stood on a first-place podium in Germany last month. She’d once dreamed of representing Team USA as a track athlete in the Summer Olympics — and she’d very nearly accomplished just that a decade and a half earlier.
But instead, on this day, when temperatures hovered around freezing in Winterberg, Germany, Simidele Adeagbo wore a full body speed suit, proudly displayed a first-place trophy and a Nigerian flag — which she'd brought herself, since there wasn't one on hand — and beamed. She’d just taken first in an international monobob competition, becoming the first African, man or woman, to win an official International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation race.