9 Sep 2015
Fifteen-year-old Noah Crofton, an AAU Junior Olympic Games and world champion strength sports athlete from Shreveport, LA, is vying for a Team USA slot in bobsled for the 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
Two weeks prior to the 2015 AAU Junior Olympic Games in Virginia, Noah passed the first hurdle to making the team by achieving a qualifying score above 300 points during a USA Bobsled combine in Dallas.
Shortly after that, he co-captained the Jets Barbell national team to AAU Junior Olympic Games team championships in powerlifting, weightlifting, the All-Sports Combine and Feats of Strength in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Noah also captured gold medals in both powerlifting and weightlifting.
Because there are only two bobsled training facilities in the United States, Noah will have to relocate to one of the tracks to train to make the team. The Shreveport student plans to move to Lake Placid Olympic Training Center this fall to train on the monobob, a one-person bobsled that will be used this year at the Youth Olympic Games. He plans to move to Lake Placid in October, and compete in qualifying races in Calgary and Lillehammer later this year prior to the Youth Olympic Games in Norway next February. While in Lake Placid, he will conduct all of his classes at C. E. Bryd High School online.
“To live away from home and train full-time while still going to school is going to be a challenge,” Noah said. “Luckily, I have a very supportive school and family who are 100% behind me.” To train full-time in Lake Placid for the winter sliding season and travel to qualifying events, Noah plans to raise $11,000, and he has started a Go Fund me site to solicit donations.
“Noah Crofton is one of our top teen athletes in AAU Strength Sports,” said Martin Drake, Strength Sports national chairman. “His training in Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting has direct carryover to a sport like bobsled, where explosive power and speed are important. This is a great opportunity for him, and we in AAU wish him all the best.”
Crofton is a four-time JO Games champion in powerlifting and weightlifting who has set more than 20 world, national and state records in competition. He is also a varsity track and field athlete at C. E. Byrd.
The International Olympic Committee launched both summer and winter Youth Olympic Games in 2010 as international multi-sport events for athletes ages 14-18. The previous Winter Youth Olympic Games was held in Innsbruck, Austria in 2012, and drew over 1000 athletes.
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