Kayden Johnson joins Canadian bobsled team
By Joan Janzen
joanjanzen@yahoo.com
A former Kindersley resident is in hot pursuit of his athletic career. Kayden Johnson attended school in Kindersley from Grades 5 to 10, at which time he lived in Kindersley with his siblings and parents, Winchester and Angy Johnson. After completing high school, he was a member of the University of Saskatchewan football team. He has also been on the U of S track and field team and is a former USports hurdling champion.
Kayden graduated from York University in 2020, and in April 2020, was drafted by the B.C. Lions, however, the CFL wasn’t playing games because of Covid health regulations. This didn’t deter Kayden, who immediately began searching for another opportunity, and he found one.
In 2018, Kayden had tried out bobsleigh, so he took hold of that opportunity and tried out for Team Canada. In November 2020, he discovered he had secured one of the 33 spots on the Team Canada Bobsled team.
Kayden described his first time on a bobsled saying, “It was full of adrenalin. It really was like nothing I’ve ever experienced, like being on a roller coaster and a fighter jet at the same time. The ride itself is under a minute long, and you can feel the G forces squishing your body during the run.” Kayden hits speeds over 150 km/hour and up to five G-forces on the bobsled.
Now he trains five days a week at the Calgary Olympic Park and the Ice House. The training involves technique, the timing of pushing the sled at full speed, and weight training to increase his speed, power and strength. Kayden said the training is similar to football training, and all of the training translates to football and track and field as well.
Kayden also trains at Whistler on the Olympic Bobsleigh Track. “I competed as a brakeman this year, and now I’m learning how to drive. Whistler happens to be the fastest track in the world. Now I feel confident to handle any track in the world. I have aspirations of being an Olympic bobsled pilot as well,” Kayden said.
A brakeman pushes the sled to get it moving at the beginning of the run, gets the team to the sled as efficiently as possible at the start of the course, hops in, and pulls the brakes at the end of the run. The brakeman’s efforts release brakes that slice into the ice to help the sled stop after the finish line.
Kayden explained that the competition for this year is all done for the season. “Next year, they’ll thin it down to 15 male athletes and ten female athletes. We qualify for three sleds for the men’s side and three sleds for the women’s side,” Kayden explained. He has been part of both a two-man team and a four-man team.
“The team plays a huge part because, in a two-man, it’s your pilot and brakeman. But in a four-man, there’s an exciting team component in play yourself and three other athletes who all jump in together. You gotta get pretty cozy in the sled on the way down,” Kayden said. “You’re running at top speed, and all of us have to jump in the sled at the same time.”
I asked Kayden if travelling at 150 km/hour in a sled results in any injuries. “I had some situations where one of the guys slipped, and I reached out and grabbed him and pulled him in the sled and jumped in after him,” he said. “I had some crashes where I got some pretty big bruises on my shoulder and my hip, but nothing too serious where it put me out of competition. But it is kind of like a car crash. As a pilot, you’re more secure, but as a brakeman, you do feel it a lot more if you experience a crash.”
But Kayden is also planning on pursuing his football career. “I’m planning to go to B.C. Lions camp and hopefully have a good Grey Cup run this year, and then I’ll be in good shape to go to the Olympic trial,” he said. “I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to have another sport, when the football season wasn’t happening, and still pursue my athletic career in another avenue. I definitely enjoy it. There’s no place I’d rather be. I’m embracing the moment and having fun with it.”
Kayden Johnson
The bobsled team