Vonetta Flowers (; born October 29, 1973) is an American bobsledder. In 2002 Winter Olympics, Flowers became the first African American and the first Black athlete from any country to win a gold medal at a Winter Olympics.

Career

Flowers was a star sprinter and long jumper at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and originally aspired to make the U.S. Summer Olympics. After several failed attempts, Flowers turned to bobsledding, and found success as a brakewoman almost immediately. At the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

, she, along with driver Jill Bakken, won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the two-woman event, becoming the first African American woman to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics. After the Salt Lake City Games, Flowers gave birth to twins and took some time off from the sport. In 2003, she returned to competition with new driver Jean Prahm. Flowers and Prahm competed in 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 t ...

in Turin, finishing sixth. Flowers also won the bronze medal in the two-woman event at the 2004 FIBT World Championships in Königssee. She retired from competition after the 2006 Winter Olympics. In December 2010, she was elected to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. She was inducted as a member of the Class of 2011 in May.

References

2006 bobsleigh two-woman resultsFIBT profileOfficial websiteAlabama Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2011
1973 births Living people African-American female track and field athletes American female bobsledders Bobsledders at the 2002 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in bobsleigh Sportspeople from Birmingham, Alabama University of Alabama at Birmingham alumni American female sprinters American female long jumpers Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics People from Helena, Alabama 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American women {{US-Winter-Olympic-medalist-stub