Todd Dennys Hays (born May 21, 1969) is a former American

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

der who competed from 1994 to 2006. Competing in two

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

, he won the silver medal in the four-man event at

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

in 2002, breaking a 46-year medal drought for the US national bobsleigh team. He also won two medals in the four-man event at the

FIBT World Championships The IBSF World Championships (known as the FIBT World Championships until 2015), part of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, have taken place on an annual basis since 1930. Starting with 2002, championships of non-Winter Olympi ...

with a silver in 2003 and a bronze in 2004. He finished third four times in the

Bobsleigh World Cup The Bobsleigh World Cup is an annual bobsleigh competitions. It has taken place since the 1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games ( Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske ...

, earning them twice in combined men's (2003-4, 2005-6) and once each in the two-man (2005–06) and four-man events (2003–04). Hays was raised in Del Rio, Texas. Prior to his

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

career, Hays also was involved in

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

and kickboxing. This included playing

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

for the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma for which he was part of the team that defeated

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

in the

Freedom Bowl The Freedom Bowl was an annual post-season college football bowl game played at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California, from 1984 to 1994. The bowl frequently invited a team from the Western Athletic Conference to compete against an at-large op ...

in 1991. He also is a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. Hays played two seasons with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

before switching to kickboxing where he became national champion in 1993. He competed in the 1995 Vale Tudo Freestyle Fighting Championship in Japan. Winning his first bout against

Koichiro Kimura was a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, also known under the ring name . Kimura was known for his work in promotions like Dramatic Dream Team, W*ING, Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling, am ...

via submission, Hays was set to face

Rickson Gracie Rickson Gracie (; born November 21, 1958) is a Brazilian 9th-degree red belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and a retired mixed martial artist. He is a member of the Gracie family: the third oldest son of Hélio Gracie, brother to Rorion and Relson Grac ...

in his second fight of the tournament. However, he had sustained an injury to his shoulder which caused him to decide to leave the tournament. Todd is featured in the film
Choke: Rickson Gracie
', a documentary of the Brazilian fighter's preparation for the 1995 Vale Tudo tournament. In it, he explains how he had chosen to enter the tournament in Japan and fight under this rule set to make money, as he wanted to be able to finance his true dream; to compete in the Olympics as a bobsledder. Hays retired from bobsleigh after the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

and returned to

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

football in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. In 2008, Hays attempted a comeback in preparation for the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. On December 9, 2009, Hays sustained an injury during practice at the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track in Winterberg,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Medical personnel for the US Bobsleigh Team evaluated Hays' condition in

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburg ...

and stated Hays suffered from an intraparenchymal hematoma which was originally suspected to be a concussion. The doctors in turn forced Hays into retirement to avoid any further brain damage. Subsequently, Hays became a bobsleigh coach, working with

Mike Kohn Michael Kohn (born May 26, 1972) is an American former bobsledder who has competed since 1990. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the four-man event at Salt Lake City in 2002 as a push athlete for pilot Brian Shimer. He ...

weeks after returning from Winterberg to help him clinch the third slot for the US national team at the

. He worked with the Dutch bobsleigh team in the 2010-11 season, coaching Esmé Kamphuis to a second place at a World Cup event at

Cesana Pariol Cesana Pariol was the venue for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The track, built for the games, is located in Cesana. The venue holds approximately 7,130 spectators, of whom 3,624 are seated. Cons ...

, the first medal ever won by a Dutch bobsleigh crew. Subsequently, the

United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation The United States Bobsled & Skeleton Federation (USBSF) is the official national governing body (NGB) for bobsled and skeleton in the United States. It serves as the American representative for the International Bobsleigh and Tobogganing Federati ...

announced in May 2011 that Hays would take up the position of head coach for the US women's team from July of that year. Despite leading the women's team to two medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics, it was announced in May 2014 that Hayes had lost his job after changes to USBSF's coaching structure resulting in the men's and women's head coach positions being merged. After leaving the US team Hays became head coach and technical director for the Jamaican bobsled team for the 2014–15 season. However he had to leave this role after one season due to a lack of funds to pay his salary, although he continued to work with the team in an unofficial capacity.

References

External links

Bobsleigh four-man Olympic medalists for 1924, 1932–56, and since 1964

* (December 15, 2009 article accessed December 15, 2009.) *

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080409025356/http://sports123.com/bob/mwc-4.html List of four-man bobsleigh World Cup champions since 1985
List of two-man bobsleigh World Cup champions since 1985

MSNBC.com story on Hays' retirement

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hays, Todd 1969 births American male bobsledders American football linebackers American male kickboxers American male mixed martial artists Bobsledders at the 2002 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2006 Winter Olympics Living people Olympic silver medalists for the United States in bobsleigh People from Del Rio, Texas Toronto Argonauts players Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics American sports coaches