From Football to Bobsledding Linebacker Followed Olympic Dream
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Iowa State Daily, February 2018 Iowa State Daily, 2018 2-9-2018 Iowa State Daily (February 9, 2018) Iowa State Daily Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/iowastatedaily_2018-02 Recommended Citation Iowa State Daily, "Iowa State Daily (February 9, 2018)" (2018). Iowa State Daily, February 2018. 14. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/iowastatedaily_2018-02/14 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State Daily, 2018 at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Iowa State Daily, February 2018 by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NEWS (C) OLYMPIC ... ENGINEER? TRAIN LIKE AN OLYMPIAN You might not notice her in your You’re 15 minutes away from feel- IOWA classes, but one Iowa Stater was the ing like an Olympic champion. rst gymnast to compete for her STATE country in the Olympics. DAILY MORE ONLINE PAGE 7 An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890. FRIDAY 02.09.2018 No. 97 Vol 217 16° 0° From football to bobsledding Linebacker followed Olympic dream COURTESY PHOTO BY JESSE BECKOM III A small conversation between Jesse Beckom III and his defensive coach Charle Partridge developed a true passion that would be part of his life for about 10 years and change his mindset to gold medals instead of touchdowns. BY BRIAN.MOZEY Jesse Beckom III felt his phone ring in his pocket. After two years, Beckom III decided to transfer sled were once either a football player or a track @iowastatedaily.com to Iowa State because it was a Division I program, athlete. Football contains similar approaches to The former Iowa State linebacker stopped and it had an architecture eld for his major. He pushing a bobsled, while track stars have the helping his friend move into a new apartment walked onto the football team, but after becom- ability to gain speed quickly, which is needed on and picked it up. ing a starter and eventually the Big 12 Defensive the ice. On the other end was his defensive coach at the Newcomer of the Year in 1998, he received a full Even though Beckom III had the strength and time, Charlie Partridge. scholarship with the Cyclones. determination to learn and understand the sport “Hey, what are you doing?” Partridge said. “God had a good plan for me,” Beckom III said. of bobsled, he realized there were some di erences “I’m just helping my friend move into his After his nal season as team captain in 1999, between football and bobsled. apartment,” Beckom III said. Beckom III received a Bachelor’s degree in com- “One of the biggest di erences is that bobsled “What do you think about bobsledding?” munity and regional planning. He would later earn focuses on your lower body to push,” Beckom III Partridge said. his Master’s degree at Iowa State in 2003 after a said. “In football, you focus on many different “I don’t know. What do you think about it?” few years of graduate school. parts of your body. I just needed to realize it was Beckom III said. Beckom III said he cherished his time at Iowa going to be a learning process.” It’s the middle of the summer and the last thing State and had plenty of memories both on and o Beckom III soaked in every minute of learning Beckom III was thinking about was winter, let the eld. His favorite on eld moment was during at this camp and fell in love with the sport. He alone bobsledding. the winter time one season with his defensive line realized this could potentially be something he “I met a guy named Travis that wants you to coach Mike Nelson. continued to do for a number of years. come out to a bobsled workout,” Partridge said. Nelson would wear shorts and t-shirts during e former Cyclone football linebacker started “Coach seriously, what do you want?” Beckom practice in the middle of winter outside. Beckom his bobsled career in 2002 but developed a close III said. “What are you joking about?” III thought he was crazy for wearing that type of friend in 2004 with the addition of Curt Tomase- “No, I’m being serious,” Partridge said. attire, but it proved a point to many of the players. vicz. e two would nd out soon that they would “Give the guy my number,” Beckom III said. “All the coaches were just shaking their heads, spend the majority of their time together. That small conversation developed a true but that was coach Nelli. He was a character,” Whether it was lifting or practices or outside passion that would be part of his life for about Beckom III said. “I think he was trying to tell us drills, the two were joined at the hip, but never 10 years and change his mindset to gold medals that it’s not too cold to be playing football.” rode together in a bobsled throughout their ca- instead of touchdowns. His time at Iowa State led to that phone call, reers with Team USA. “I think God set it up where two paths crossed which not only changed his mindset, but changed “He was the first person I ever met when I a path where it had never crossed before,” Beckom the sport he would focus on. started my career with bobsled because he picked III said. It wasn’t football anymore. me up from the airport in Colorado Springs, It was bobsled. [Colorado],” Tomasevicz said. Football First Little did Tomasevicz and Beckom III know Before this phone call, Beckom III was focused Learning a whole new sport that each of them would encourage and push each on football and achieving his dreams and goals as Beckom III went over to Lake Placid, New other to reach their individual goals for the next a Division I athlete. He started his college career York, to start his journey with bobsled at the camp eight, nine, 10 years. in 1995 at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Travis Bell mentioned in the phone conversation. Deer eld, Illinois. e majority of athletes that compete in bob- BOBSLED PG8 NEWS 02 NEWS Iowa State Daily Friday, February 9, 2018 INTERNATIONAL Russia, US politics dance around Olympics BY CHRIS.ANDERSON @iowastatedaily.com Despite doping allegations, Russian athletes will compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, though not under the Russian flag. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided they will allow Russian athletes to compete under the Olympic flag as a group designated “Olympic Athletes from Russia” or OAR. In 2014, German broadcaster ARD aired a documentary which brought forward allegations that Russia organized a state-run program that supplied their athletes with performance enhancing drugs. This, in the following years, led to a number of the reports, including one commissioned by the World Anti-Doping agency that proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the Russian gov- ernment operated for the protection of doped Russian athletes. On Dec. 5, 2017, the IOC announced that Russia was sus- pended from the games. They later allowed athletes with no previous drug violations and a consistent history of drug testing to compete in the games as part of the OAR group. That meant 169 Russians were allowed to compete in the games in the OAR. Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized the Olympic sanctions against Russia, labeling it a U.S. attempt to sow dissent in Russia. “In response to our imaginary interference in their election, [the U.S.] wants to create problems in the Russian presidential election,” Putin said in a BBC news article. “In response to our imaginary interference in their election, [the U.S.] wants to create problems in the Russian presidential election.” COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized the Olympic sanctions against Russia, labeling it a U.S. attempt to sow dissent in Russia. One political science professor sees Russia sowing David Andersen, assistant professor of political science at Iowa dissent in democracies around the world. State, says despite all this Olympic games have very little real impact on foreign policy, however he does see growing conflict imate,” Andersen said, “The repercussion of this is that we are between the U.S. and Russia. not protecting our elections as much as we should against what What Andersen said he sees in Washington is “confused” for- is a foreign antagonist.” eign policy when it comes to Russia. While Congress is imposing Andersen said these factors are leading to an increasingly sanctions on Russia, President Trump is refusing to enforce them divided government when it comes to the question of how to and attempting to bring the U.S. and Russia closer. treat Russia. This confusion, in Andersen’s opinion, seems to be Congress imposed sanctions on Russia after accepting findings Putin’s goal. by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 “Putin understands our system of government and he knows election. Andersen feels this puts Trump in a difficult spot. that when congress and the president disagree on something it’s “President Trump is afraid of admitting there was interference difficult to predict what will happen in the future,” Andersen said. in the election; it’s the same as saying his election was illegit- Andersen claimed that Russia is not just attacking the U.S. but democracies across the world. These attacks are not so much aimed at getting a specific candidate or party in power but in Notice of Policy Amendments decreasing trust in democratic institutions and increasing areas The University has made important amendments to ISU’s Sexual Misconduct, Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, Stalking, of disagreement in democracies across the world.