Former Charlotte 49ers track and field star Briauna Jones' Olympic dream has come true. She will travel to PyeongChang, South Korea, as a member of the 2018 U.S. Olympic Women's Bobsled Team.
Jones’ selection as a replacement athlete means she can substitute for competing athletes during training runs and is eligible to compete in the event of an injury or illness. If a replacement is needed, a selection committee will reevaluate the teams before making a nomination.
Jones made her first national team in the 2016-17 season just months after beginning the sport and won her first World Cup medal, a gold with Meyers Taylor, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, last year. She also was named last season's USABS Rookie of the Year.
A native of Summerville, South Carolina, Jones compiled an impressive resume of awards and records in her time at Charlotte before graduating in 2014. She holds a place on the top 10 list for the following events: indoor 60-meter dash, indoor and outdoor long jump, indoor and outdoor triple jump and indoor and outdoor high jump. She was a multiple-time conference medalist in each of those events, but perhaps her greatest achievement came in 2012 when she helped the program's 4x100 meter relay team earn a trip to the national championships.
Most recently, Jones served as a volunteer coach with the Charlotte track and field program under Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Bob Olesen.
Now in his 16th season at the helm of Charlotte Track and Field, Olesen was a member of the U.S. Bobsled team; he represented the country in the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. His two-man sled teams accumulated 11 world cup medals, including two bronze at the 1997 World Championship.