Aussie Lends $60K Sled So Dutch Rivals Can Chase Olympics

When Dutch bobsledders Dave Wesselink and Jelen Franjic finished 21st at a World Cup race in Winterberg, Germany, their Olympic dreams were slipping away. They needed a top-eight finish at the next race in St. Moritz, Switzerland, or miss the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Games entirely.

The problem wasn't their skill. Their sled simply wasn't fast enough.

Five minutes after watching their disappointing run from her hotel room, Australian slider Sarah Blizzard got a call from the Dutch coach. Would she consider lending them her custom-built bobsled for the crucial St. Moritz race?

It was a big ask. Blizzard's sled cost roughly $60,700 and was paid for through family loans and sponsors. In bobsled, your equipment is everything.

But Blizzard didn't hesitate. The Dutch team had helped the Australians countless times before, sharing coaching expertise and mechanical support at training tracks.

"We have worked together, and the Dutch coaches and mechanics have helped us quite a lot in the past," Blizzard told ABC Sport from Altenburg, Germany. "They're great guys."

The gamble paid off beautifully. Racing in Blizzard's sled, Wesselink and Franjic secured the top-eight finish they desperately needed. They were going to the Olympics.

"We were so excited for them," Blizzard said. "We absolutely loved watching it. It was very heartwarming."

The timing worked perfectly. The men's two-man bobsleigh event happens the day before the women's competition, so Blizzard and her brake woman Desi Johnson wouldn't need their sled for that race anyway.

Why This Inspires

This story carries special meaning for the Milano-Cortina Games. The track where Olympic bobsled medals will be decided next month bears the name of Italian legend Eugenio Monti, who won the first ever Pierre de Coubertin Fair Play Trophy in 1964.

At those Innsbruck Olympics, Monti helped repair sleds for both Canadian and British teams when their equipment broke during competition. Both teams went on to win gold, beating Monti into lower medal positions.

"Nash didn't win because I gave him the bolt," Monti said amid criticism from Italian press. "He won because he had the fastest run."

Blizzard's gesture channels that same Olympic spirit. The 29-year-old Victorian, a former track athlete who competed in four straight Stawell Gift finals, was a reserve at the Beijing Olympics and is fighting for a spot to compete in Cortina herself.

Even while chasing her own Olympic dreams, she chose to help rivals achieve theirs. That's what the Games are supposed to be about.