Olympic champion bobsledder Steven Holcomb has been found dead in his room at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y., the U.S. Olympic Committee announced Saturday. He was 37.
No details were available about Holcomb's death, the USOC said.
Holcomb won an Olympic gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Games, piloting the "Night Train" to victory in the four-man bobsled competition. It was the first U.S. gold medal in the event since 1948.
Four years laters in Sochi, he went on to win bronze medals in both two-man and four-man bobsled.
"The entire Olympic family is shocked and saddened by the incredibly tragic loss today of Steven Holcomb,” said Scott Blackmun, USOC CEO. “Steve was a tremendous athlete and even better person, and his perseverance and achievements were an inspiration to us all. Our thoughts and prayers are with Steve's family and the entire bobsledding community.”
In 2008, Holcomb had experimental eye surgery to correct a disorder called keratoconus, which distorts vision and often leads to blindness. Before the corrective surgery, Holcomb battled depression, and in his 2012 book, But Now I See: My Journey From Blindness to Olympic Gold, he revealed that he attempted suicide.
"Depression isn't something you catch in the wind one day and get sick the next," Holcomb wrote. "It is a gradual, degenerative process, much like my keratoconus. And just like my blindness, I chose to battle the demon on my own, without telling anyone or seeking help from others."
A native of Park City, Utah, who joined the World Cup circuit as a brakeman in 1998, Holcomb became one of the most decorated bobsled pilots in the world. He won 60 World Cup medals and 10 medals at world championships in addition to his three Olympic medals. He was a five-time world champion.
"It would be easy to focus on the loss in terms of his Olympic medals and enormous athletic contributions to the organization, but USA Bobsled & Skeleton is a family and right now we are trying to come to grips with the loss of our teammate, our brother and our friend," said USA Bobsled & Skeleton CEO Darrin Steele.
