Todd Hays

Todd Hays (born May 21 1969) is an American bobsledder who competed from 1994 to 2006. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he won the silver medal in the four-man event at Salt Lake City in 2002.

Hays also won two medals in the four-man event at the FIBT World Championships with a silver in 2003 and a bronze in 2004. He finished third four times in the Bobsleigh World Cup, earning them twice in combined men's (2003-4, 2005-6) and once each in the two-man (2005-6) and four-man events (2003-4).

Prior to his bobsleigh career, Hays also was involved in American football and kickboxing. This included playing linebacker for the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma for which he part of the winning team that defeated Texas A&M University in the Freedom Bowl in 1991. Hays played two seasons with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League before switching to kickboxing where he became national champion in 1993.

Todd Hays competed in the 1995 Vale Tudo Freestyle Fighting Championship in Japan. Winning his first bout against Koichiro Kimura via submission, Hays was set to face Rickson Gracie in his second fight of the tournament. However, he had sustained an injury to his shoulder which forced him to decide to leave the tournament, instead of going up against Gracie knowing he would take a loss. Kimura then defeated Wayne Emons, who had also lost his first match, in order to decide who would take Hays's place, facing Gracie in the semi-finals. Todd is featured in the film "", a documentary of the Brazilian fighter's preparation for the 1995 Vale Tudo tournament. In it, he explains how he had chosen to enter the tournament in Japan and fight under this rule set to make money, as he wanted to be able to finance his true dream; to compete in the Olympics as a bobsledder.

Hays retired from bobsleigh after the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and returned to coaching football in the United States.

References

* [http://sports123.com/bob/mo-4.html Bobsleigh four-man Olympic medalists for 1924, 1932-56, and since 1964]
* [http://sports123.com/bob/mw-4.html Bobsleigh four-man world championship medalists since 1930]
* [http://databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=HAYSTOD01 DatabaseOlympics.com profile]
* [http://www.sportresult.com/sports/bs/db/biography.asp?p_id=100517&nat=USA&sport=BS&sex=M&season=&stat=&venue=&events= FIBT profile]
* [http://martialarts.jameshom.com/library/weekly/aa021602.htm James Hom story on Hays]
* [http://sports123.com/bob/mwc-c.html List of combined men's bobsleigh World Cup champions: 1985-2007]
* [http://sports123.com/bob/mwc-4.html List of four-man bobsleigh World Cup champions since 1985]
* [http://sports123.com/bob/mwc-2.html List of two-man bobsleigh World Cup champions since 1985]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11559364/ MSNBC.com story on Hays' retirement]
* [http://www.usoc.org/26_693.htm United States Olympic Committee profile]