LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Utah Valley Track & Field alum Caleb Furnell has been named to the USA Olympic Bobsled team, set to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games next month in Cortina, Italy.
Furnell, who graduated from Utah Valley in 2024, will be one of three push athletes on the four-man bobsled team piloted by Kris Horn, a two-time Olympian. Furnell is also on the shortlist of athletes for the two-man bobsled teams, which will be announced at a future date.
"We're excited to have Caleb represent Utah Valley athletics as a member of the United States Bobsled team. What an honor that is!" said UVU track and field head coach Scott Houle. "We're excited to have the opportunity to watch him grow in the sport and do some great things. Caleb's an amazingly hard worker."
A native of Lee's Summit, Mo., Furnell spent five years at Utah Valley, from 2019-2024, where he specialized in sprints. As a senior in 2024, Furnell was part of the WAC champion 4x100 relay team that qualified for the NCAA Regionals, and was also a first team All-WAC honoree in the 100m and 200m. Furnell also qualified for Regionals in the 200m in 2021 and 2022. Furnell holds about a dozen top 10 marks in the Utah Valley recordbooks, including top-three times in the indoor and outdoor 200m and the 4x100 relay.
Furnell is the fourth Winter Olympian in Utah Valley history, all of whom competed in the bobsled or skeleton and are products of the track and field program. Furnell joins 2014 Olympic silver medalists Noelle Pikus-Pace '05 and Chris Fogt '07 as the only athletes to compete for Team USA. Former Wolverine Akwasi Frimpong '12 became the second Winter Olympian from Ghana when he qualified for the 2018 Games in the skeleton.
Furnell will have a fellow Wolverine in his corner as he competes in Italy. Fogt is the head coach of the USA Bobsled program.
The 2026 Winter Olympic Games begin on Feb. 6 in Milan, Italy, with the bobsled events running from Feb. 12-22 in Cortina. All events will be broadcast on the NBC family of networks and Peacock.
