Latter-day Saint Bobsledder to Compete in 2026 Olympic Games in Italy

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By Christine Rappleye, Church News

Opening ceremonies on Friday, February 6, officially started the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy as athletes slide, skate, ski and race as they compete on the world stage.

One of those athletes is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Caleb Furnell, 24, is a push athlete on one of Team USA’s four-man bobsled teams.

Furnell is from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and played soccer and set a state record in high jump in high school. He was a sprinter at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, from 2019 to 2024. Furnell, who is 6 feet, 2 inches tall, has a trio of top times in the school’s records for the indoor and outdoor 200-meter race and the 4-by-100 relay, the school noted. In 2024, he was part of the Western Athletic Conference champion 4-by-100 relay team that qualified for the NCAA Regionals, and was also a first team All-WAC honoree in the 100-meter and 200-meter races.

A friend suggested Furnell try out at a bobsled combine, and Furnell said he didn’t prepare for it. He was named to the United States national team. Within a year, he was on a team competing in World Cup races.

“To transition quickly to another sport and already be at the senior level, … it’s been pretty wild; it’s been fun,” he said in an interview with Kansas City, Missouri, television station KSHB 41 in December 2025.

Furnell and his wife, Brynlee Furnell, live in Vineyard, Utah.

When to Watch

The bobsled, or bobsleigh, competition consists of four races, timed to the hundredth of a second. The team with the fastest total time is the winner.

The first two heats of the four-man bobsled races are Saturday, February 21, at 10 a.m. Italy time (2 a.m. Mountain) at the Cortina Sliding Center in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The final two heats are on Sunday, February 22, beginning at 10 a.m. Italy time (2 a.m. Mountain). The fourth and final race begins at 12:15 p.m. (4:15 a.m. Mountain).

Furnell is on a sled with pilot Kris Horn and push athletes Carsten Vissering and Hunter Powell.

Bobsled coach: Also at the Olympics with Latter-day Saint ties is Chris Fogt, who is the head coach of USA Bobsled. Fogt won silver in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

If you know of any other Latter-day Saints competing in the Milan Cortina Olympic Games or in the Paralympic Games, please email their name, country and sport to churchnews@deseretnews.com.