Winter finds history-making athlete Simidele Adeagbo in Europe pursuing her next Olympic opportunity. At the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, she became the first Black woman to compete in Olympic skeleton. She subsequently made the switch to monobob (one-person bobsled). After falling just short of qualifying for the 2022 Games in Beijing, she has continued to hone her monobob skills and has her sights set on Milano/Cortina 2026.
In her first three races of the season, Adeagbo placed well, having top six finishes in two races in Germany, which in bobsled is the podium. “It’s definitely an achievement,” said Adeagbo. “All of this is building up.”
In monobob, the athlete is both the driver and the brakeman. Last week, she competed in St. Moritz, Switzerland, finishing eighth. From Switzerland, she travels to Austria. She hopes to qualify for the World Championships, which will be in Germany next month.
“I worked really hard this past summer and got stronger than ever,” said Adeagbo, 42. “I’m now training more bobsled-specific. I’ve always had the speed, the power and the strength; now I’m doing it in a way that really is focused around bobsled. You have to be super strong. I have to push a 350-pound [sled] off the starting block, and that takes an enormous amount of strength.”
Before starting the bobsled season, Adeagbo, who represents Nigeria, spent time in that nation’s capital, Lagos, where her SimiSleighs Foundation presented its Leadership Program, a transformative initiative aimed at empowering girls ages 14 to 17. One hundred participants from Eva Adelaja Girls Secondary Grammar School took part in the enhanced curriculum representing five core competencies called FIRST (focus, imagination, risk-taking, service and tenacity).
“It was amazing to be there and witness firsthand the way the girls just soaked in everything,” Adeagbo said. “The mission of the SimiSleighs Foundation, which I founded, is to build a better world for girls and women through sport.”
The foundation has two major initiatives, the Leadership Program being one. Working with girls 14–17 is an opportunity to build their confidence and help them understand the power they can have as leaders. “It’s about the mindset of being first in whatever way that looks like for them,” Adeagbo said.
She also continues to fight for gender equity in the Olympics and Paralympics. The SimiSleighs Foundation has an athlete grant program and applications are open for 2024.