Breeana Walker is putting bobsleigh on the map for Australia.
'Bobsled Bree' has already smashed all expectations, and she's not done yet at Beijing 2022. Her goal was to qualify for the Games, and here she is: not only making up the numbers, but putting in elite performances as she did in the women's monobob.
"All I can say is, never count an Aussie out," she told 7 News.
"I fought back today. The girls in front of me are the best pilots in the world. So to be fifth behind them, in my first Olympics, I’m so chuffed. I’m so happy.
“Four years ago, I was on the sideline ... it’s amazing. It’s worth all the hard work and effort."
Impressive Winter Olympic monobob debut
Walker finished in an impressive fifth place in a field of 20 athletes in the first-ever women's monobob competition at a Winter Olympics.
Her total time of 4:21.46 for the four heats was just 2.19 seconds off the pace of USA's Kaillie Humphries' gold-medal run, a blistering time to win the first-ever woman's monobob competition. Humphries' compatriot Elana Meyers Taylor finished at 4:20.81 to win an impressive silver to complete a USA 1-2 in China. Canada's Christine de Bruin took home the bronze with a time of 4:21.03.
Her performance wasn't a complete shock. The 29-year-old won two gold medals at the first IBSF women's monobob event in Lillehammer in 2018.
Walker's partner is also a professional slider
Walker's partner is Christian Hammers, who competed for Germany at the 2021 World Championships as a brakeman and pusher.
Walker lives and trains in one of Europe's oldest spa towns in Wiesbaden, Germany and that was her training base during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From high-level hurdler to Olympic dream
Walker's athleticism extends beyond bobsleigh. She was an accomplished 400m hurdler and competed for 10 years at the national level and for the University of Arkansas-Little Rock.
"The training for bobsleigh and athletics is quite similar at the basic level, but at a high level it becomes very specific," she told World Athletics. "I love learning and seeing my improvement each week and that became addictive for me."
After watching Kim Brennan, who won gold in single scull rowing at Rio 2016, Walker was inspired to truly chase the dream of representing her country at the Olympic level.
"She was a hurdler before a rower, and it made me think, ‘If she can do it, I can do it,'" Walked told the Herald Sun. "I thought I was limiting my skill set by focusing on athletics."
Meyers Taylor's prediction
Four years ago, Walker travelled to PyeongChang 2018 purely as a spectator to get a close look at where her dreams lay.
It was there that she had a conversation with Elana Meyers Taylor, who had won a silver medal.
"You'll win one of these one day yourself," Meyers Taylor said. And perhaps she will in the 2-woman bobsleigh event that starts on Friday.
But no matter what, Walker will still be pinching herself as she boards her plane finally Australia-bound after two years away, and realises she belongs among the elite.
When and where to watch Breeana Walker in bobsleigh at Beijing 2022
Pilot Walker will be competing alongside Kiara Reddingius for Australia in the 2-woman event. Heat 1 is scheduled for Friday 18 February at 20:00 local time at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre. Heat 2 will start at 21:30 on the same day.
The athletes will return the next day on Saturday 19 February to compete in heat 3 at 20:00 and the final heat at 21:30.
From the Opening Ceremony to athlete action, here's where and how you can watch the Winter Games in your region via the Official Olympic Broadcast Partners.
Keep up with all the action in our Live Blog updates throughout Beijing 2022, here.