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On February 19, 2002, Vonetta Flowers, then 28, made Olympic history. She became the first person of African descent—American or otherwise—to medal in the Winter Games when she and teammate Jill Bakken jumped into a speeding bobsled and hurled themselves downhill in record time, winning the gold medal for the U.S.A. at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
Vonetta instantly became America's celebrity du jour. In the whirlwind of press coverage that followed the competition—"We didn't sleep for two days!" she remembers—Vonetta was named one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" and traded quips with Katie Couric and Matt Lauer on the Today show. Under the intense media spotlight, there was one message Vonetta repeated time and time again, "I thank God for this win, because without him I wouldn't be here."
That wasn't an empty platitude for this mom of twins from Birmingham, Alabama, for whom faith played a crucial role in her winding path to the top of the medal podium at the Olympics.
Olympic DreamsVonetta was singled out at the age of nine as a track athlete with Olympic potential. "My first track coach, Dewitt Thomas, told me I could be the next Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and I believed him," she says. So while other kids played, she ran and practiced singing the National Anthem with hopes of being in the Olympics. "But it was always the Summer Olympics I pictured," she laughs.
Vonetta's speed propelled her to the University of Alabama at Birmingham on a full-ride scholarship, where she became one of the school's most decorated student athletes and the first person from her family to graduate from college. She had her first opportunity to try out for the U.S. Olympic track and field team in 1996 as a college senior, but ankle injuries leading up to the competition contributed to a disappointing thirteenth-place finish.
"When I failed to reach the Olympics in 1996, I started to question my fate," Vonetta remembers. "I'd achieved a lot of success in track and field based on my individual efforts, and I believed if I trained hard enough and stayed healthy, that would be enough for me to make the Olympic team. I didn't yet realize I needed God in my life to help me find my purpose and to understand that what he wanted for my life was far greater than anything I ever could have imagined."
The following year, she started attending church with a friend. "Before I became a Christian, I didn't feel like a bad person, but I was lost," she says. "The decision to accept Christ as my Savior meant I was going to follow Jesus' footsteps day in and day out. My Bible became more than a book I carried to church on Sunday. God's Word came to life, and I turned to it often for strength."
In 1999, Vonetta married fellow athlete and pastor's kid, Johnny Flowers. Bolstered by a belief that God was in control of her athletic career, and with Johnny at her side serving as coach, Vonetta started training again with hopes of making the 2000 Olympic team.
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