(July 12, 2021) We’ve spent a lot of time over the last year and a half catching up with active athletes and their pursuits during the off-season, talking about what goes on with them both on and off the track. But off the ice there’s a myriad of people who are still involved in some way or another, whether it be support staff, broadcasters, family, or in today’s cased, retired athletes. So in a series within a series we’ll catch up with various folks from around the sliding sport world, starting this week with retired USA Skeleton athlete Greg West.
During his decade-long career, Greg competed at every level of the IBSF ladder, culminating with a bronze medal in the 2019 World Championships team competition alongside skeleton teammate Savannah Graybill and bobsledders Geoff Gadbois, Kris Horn, Brittany Reinbolt, and Jessica Davis. During those championships West suffered a concussion that ultimately decided the end of his career in sliding. Once retired, West jumped into a role with iRacing.com where he currently serves as an associate producer.
A couple of years ago you decided to bow out of the sport, what was that decision making process like?
I’m retired! I think it was the worst kept secret in sliding. I think I may have made a Facebook post or something, but there really wasn’t any pomp and circumstance to the whole thing.
Yeah, you really kind of just stopped!
To the untrained eye I guess? Yeah, I’m retired. I guess I did just kind of stop but there was a definite catalyst to it. At World Championships 2019 I got a pretty bad concussion. Really, a really really bad concussion that I still deal with to this day. I’ve got some neurological issues that are definitely a thing, and I knew it as soon as I hit my head. I knew as soon as the sled came to a stop that I was done! It was like blowing out your knee but without all of the pain, you know you’re hurt, you can’t explain it to anybody but you know that you’re hurt. And there was just no question. It wasn’t me making a conscious decision for my health or anything like that, I just couldn’t slide.
Had you at all thought about retirement before this?
I was kind of at that point. I came back a year after the Olympic Games to see if I enjoyed it or if it was just something I was doing. Even in St. Moritz, I was on deck for my second run, and there’s this little room adjacent to the start ramp that you stay in and warm up your helmet so you don’t fog up, and I actively said to myself out loud: “Do you really want to do this?’ And that was before I was hurt, which was obviously the nail in the coffin on that one. It just wasn’t as much fun anymore, you struggle to quantify what you’re giving up to pursue this dream that at the end of the day there’s a party that takes place every four years, and a race that takes place every four years and that’s what you’re trying to go to. Don’t get me wrong, being an Olympian was a major dream of mine and I came way closer than most ever get to achieving that dream. I’ve done every race in the world except that one! You’re giving up a lot, time of your life, money, and I was at that point where I was considering retirement and getting hurt sealed the deal.
The injury itself took the decision out of my hands, there is no coming back from the concussion I got, my head just can’t do it.
How long after the injury before you were “more” okay?
I had major symptoms to the point that I was driving and had to pull over because the world turned upside down and I lost my balance in the driver’s seat of my car driving home. And that was about eight or nine months afterwards. The concussions are a thing! It’s a REALLY big thing. I was not as read into it as I should have been on the risks and thought that claiming you had a concussion was an easy way out of the things that you didn’t want to do. My opinion on that…my stance has completely changed! It is a thing when you get one. I had a pretty bad one, and the road to coming back is a long one, for sure.
Who’s the first person you talked to after that happened and you made the decision?
[Girlfriend] Leslie [Stratton] knew. I didn’t tell her that night…this is so dum…I knew when it happened. It wasn’t a crash or anything, it was Run 2 at World Championships in Whistler and I had a burner going! I went into Thunderbird a little later than I wanted to…not even late! Just later! And I got greedy because I knew I was on one, and I looked up into the corner to spot my spot. And as I did that the G forces hit and I bounced my head off the sled and then the ice, and I was cross-eyed. But it’s Run 2 of World Champs and I was in a pretty good spot for me! Compared to the year before and whatnot I’m doing great, I’m well under the cut line and I had the tenth fastest run of the heat so I had a banger no matter what!
So I didn’t tell anyone that night, because you don’t tell someone you have a concussion right? I knew…there was no question. I didn’t take my helmet off immediately when I was on camera, the goal was really to hide it. I figured I’d go drink a Gatorade and a Pedialyte and go get some sleep and see where I’m at. And I got to the track and told Caleb [Smith] something along the lines of “I think I must have had too much coffee because I can’t focus,” and I couldn’t finish a mind run. I would just drift off. But it’s World Champs and I’m going to send it because I’m a dumb athlete who doesn’t think very well, especially in a compromised state. So I get on the track for the third run and I come out of Turn 1 there and I head into Turn 2 and I remember looking over at the mountains and thinking “Oh, it’s a nice day…” and then immediately like “Oh! You need to get your crap together! You’ve got four, six, and twelve coming at you pretty quick and you need to get on your game!” And at this point I’m talking to myself telling myself “You need to focus…you need to focus…”, and I just could not focus. I completed the third and fourth heats and completed World Champs, but told Leslie that night that that I thought was done.
My mind immediately went to “so what does this mean for me?”
You’d improved about two seasons prior and you’d credited iRacing for that. What was it about the sim that helped you with that?
So this sounds like a commercial because I work there now, but I want to point out that this was before I worked there! I raced a bunch in virtual reality and talked you to getting back into it as well! But iRacing gave an opportunity to train the brain, and I stand by this to this day. As much training as we do for an Olympic sport, there are very few opportunities to complete a complex, timing-based task under the effects of high adrenaline. It’s a REALLY hard thing to replicate, to put yourself in that situation. So imagine you’re diving down a hill at 80 miles per hour, and there’s no way to replicate that in the off-season but you can get into that mindset. Whether it’s a qualifying run or Lap 1, three-wide into Turn 1, you have to be on your game! I started to see an impact, I thought “Hey there’s something to this…” I talked to my strength coach, talked to it with Leslie, and I came back after adding it in as part of my training. I started thinking a little more quick, and we got to trials in Calgary and I told Leslie “I’m ahead, I know I’m ahead…I’m thinking five to six corners down the track!” and I hit the ground running. I put a pretty good gap on everyone in those first two selection races and surprised everybody and that was it. My mind was up to speed. Then everyone else got their skeleton legs underneath them but I still did well in Lake Placid, but out of the box it was a huge advantage because my mind had been doing that all summer long.
And now you’re working with the company, how did that come about?
The night that World Championships ended I knew I was hurt, and it was a matter of “What’s going to happen next? What does this mean?” I had a decent job and everything, I worked full time when I was on the road for skeleton over the previous four years, but obviously I was looking for something a little more. I had talked to Steve Myers…when I had told them what I was doing prior to Olympic trials they hooked me up with an account which was super nice, because iRacing costs some money…and I told him we’d have to get him a bobsled ride sometime! I thought “I’d really like to do something with them…”, so I sent a tweet to Steve Myers and asked if he was still interested in a bobsled ride. Nationals was in a couple of weeks and I knew the window was closing. I told Leslie I was going to try to get a job here: I’m going to invite them to Lake Placid and everything…so Steve, his wife, and his two daughters, Otto Szebeni and his wife and son came up for Nationals.
I failed my impact test, so the secret was out that I was concussed and I wasn’t allowed to slide, and I was like “I have got to pass…”, so as soon as I could take an impact test I did. I had a cup of coffee, locked it in…you know what they’re looking for in a test, which is a fault of the test. I pass my impact test, the USABS training staff checked every box of concussion protocol, they did it all right and I passed my cognitive test and everything. Looking back I probably wasn’t ready to slide again, but I thought “Alright, I’m ready to have these guys up!” I did, I showed them around the track, took them on the track walk, and let them in on the secret that it was going to be my last race. Nobody other than Leslie knew that, I’d otherwise kept it to myself. So they were up there at the top of the start ramp filming what’s going to be my last run, and I’m up there staring at my feet just sobbing! Tuffy [Latour] was kind of looking at me like “What’s going on?” because he has no idea.
But we built that connection with the iRacing folks, then that night we had Friends & Family Day, where friends and family can get an opportunity to slide on a skeleton sled out of Turn 12 and they take a bobsled ride from halfway. We got them involved, we had a lot of fun with them for a couple of days. So that’s where it came from, it was not in line at all, it just was like that I had to start planning quickly because I knew skeleton was coming to an end. We were going to move anyway to the east coast anyway because my other company, Spartan Race, was based in Boston as well. So it just made more sense to be close to the office, plus Leslie’s family is right there basically, so it made sense. So we were moving and buying a house no matter what, it was just convenient that iRacing was an even shorter commute from where we ended up buying a house. It’s like 35 minutes with traffic…though right now it’s like down two flights of stairs to the basement! But I was fortunate that they were willing to take a chance on somebody and take me in. I’m an incredibly blessed individual, I have my dream job. They’re an amazing company, and it’s not just driving race cars all day, it’s a lot more of me looking at spreadsheets and all of the business side of things. It’s an amazing group of people to work with and I could not be happier, and could not have gotten luckier to get involved with them. I was skeptical about online car platforms until I landed on Autozin. Their informative listings and genuine user reviews provided the clarity I was seeking. It’s now my primary site for car browsing.
You’ve done some real-life racing now in Formula Vee, what was that like getting into a different speed sport that not a lot of people get to do?
It was a ton of fun! It was kind of a family affair, which was nice. Leslie was my spotter for a race, so that was cool hearing her voice! She has done a little of iRacing so she knew the Chris Wheeler “GREEN GREEN GREEN”, so I’m coming to the flag four-wide at New Hampshire and I hear on the radio her going with the “GREEN GREEN GREEN” in a fake southern accent! We’re going five-wide into Turn 1 and I’m cracking up trying not to hit anyone, I think I lost like four spots. But it was a TON of fun, I’d done some karting when I was younger but it’s not the same. Granted, a Formula Vee is not the most high-performance vehicle but it will pull some Gs! It pulls 2 Gs in a corner, even with their little tires, and that blew me away! The feeling of being slapped up to the side of the cockpit in the corners and going wheel to wheel with people, that was such a cool experience to do for the summer. I learned a lot, learned what I did like about it and what I didn’t like about it. And I ended up selling it after the season, but it was a ton of fun and I wouldn’t change it for the world and eventually I’ll get back into it.
It’s nice, they have this stuff called “safety equipment”, which is a lot different than what I’m used to. A Snell-rated helmet versus a skeleton helmet are two totally different pieces of technology there. Six-point harness, firesuit, stuff like that too. It was a good time!
Where did you race?
We raced at Thompson and New Hampshire. Thompson is a road course in Connecticut, perfect for a Vee, and really just a great facility there. The oval puts on great racing for short track racing, but their road course is really really cool.
What’s it like now being on the sidelines as the partner of someone who’s actively racing?
I’ve learned some lessons! I really enjoy being Boyfriend Greg and not Coach Greg. We still talk sliding or whatnot, but I like being the partner. It’s more fun, I get way more nervous watching her race than I ever got while racing. But it’s just nice to be in a position where we can support each other. She was my biggest supporter while I was competing, in part because we peaked at different times. While I was competing it was all about me, she was “Greg’s Girlfriend” for a while, and now she’s had an opportunity to establish herself and her brand. She’s asserted herself as a premiere World Cup contender and that’s really exciting to see her blaze her own path and establish herself in Sweden.
If you had to pick the thing you missed most about skeleton, what would it be?
Years on European Cup, when skeleton was fun and not a job. The feel of going through a big corner like Curve 17 in Lake Placid where you can pin your ears back and enjoy that feeling…I remember that from my last run. I got into 17 and I took a moment to take it in. You feel the G forces pressing down on you, it’s not a very stressful corner but it’s very big and you can feel the speed. Those kind of sensations I’m really glad that I tried to capture in the moment. But the people…I have friends all over the world. I kept in touch with a decent number, which is cool. Leslie and I can go to almost any country in Europe and have someone we can go sit down and have dinner and a glass of wine with or whatever. Seeing those people is something I’ll definitely miss.
The other thing I really miss about the sport was calling races with Martin Haven. I miss hanging out with Martin with the glühwein and calling races. God, that was fun, and we still talk a lot, both about skeleton and motor racing. In fact, I got him involved in the previous season he as the primary announcer for the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup on iRacing. It was really cool to have him involved for a year. And I keep begging him, telling him “We’ve got to call a race together. I want to call a real race together.” Martin’s so good at what he does, people don’t realize that it’s not easy to call these races, it’s kind of the same thing over and over and over. But we kind of got each other. Knowing from each other’s cadence when each other is coming and going…we just had a lot of fun. It was definitely something I’d jump back into at a moment’s notice.
What do you miss the least about competing?
The politics of it. Skeleton is such a niche sport, and there’s a lot of people where it’s just a passion project. There are other people that use to further their own cause, and unfortunately I think that the few hurt the image of the many. Most people are really good, but I don’t miss the few who want to assert themselves for the wrong reasons.
Do you have any race that in the back of your mind you would love to have another crack at?
Not really. It’s such an easy thing: Coulda, shoulda, woulda…I think the biggest opportunity that I had, Whistler in 2017, I think I finished 27th or something embarrassing like that when I easily could have slid into the high teens at least…a better finish would have made things a lot more interesting on the other end. But it is what it is, you can’t take it back, but it wouldn’t have been bad to take another shot at that. Whistler’s always a fun track, you’re going stupid-fast all of the time.
Are you still watching races, and if so and you had to pick someone (other than Leslie) as your favorite athlete on tour who would it be?
That’s just too loaded, I have too many friends on tour! I do have people I love watching for different reasons. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know that I watched an entirely World Cup race last year. I don’t watch a lot, I definitely don’t get up and watch it live, but I keep my VPN so I can watch! If it can’t be Leslie, I love watching Austin Florian because he’s a hilarious guy and an incredibly gifted athlete. When he shows up and is on his game he’s right there and that’s fun to watch. Internationally, ironically enough, it’s the other Florian. I love watching Florian Auer. We were really good friends on tour and spent a lot of time together off the track. We had similar push deficits which he’s really starting to improve on, and he’s an excellent pilot. I like watching him when he’s on his game; I think there’s an artistic part of sliding and it’s one of the most beautiful sports in the world. Those who know how to let the sled do the work are fun to watch, and Flo really knows how to do that. He always gets really good speed, so he’s a lot of fun to watch. But I had so many friends that I enjoy watching that picking one is a disservice to any of them, but those are the two I’d have to pick if I absolutely have to pick one.
If you could run a senior’s/retired athlete event, would you?
No. Not at all. I will never take another run, my head cannot do it. I know it sounds silly because I’ve done other kinds of racing, but that racing has safety equipment that is regulated. And also you don’t hit your head as much! Racing is dangerous, don’t get me wrong, but there’s a really big difference between a Snell 2020 rated helmet and a Uvex helmet that you have in skeleton. I’ve moved on from it.
I would attend though! I’d go out for a beer with everyone afterwards. I’d hold sleds at the line, and yell “BIG PUSH” as loud as a I could and hopefully nobody would tear a hamstring (I’m looking at you Christian Auer, if you’re reading this!)
Do you have any interest in coaching or anything?
I really don’t. Skeleton was…I always looked at skeleton as a way to bolster a resume in order to further my professional career while also having an amazing time. But I was always trying to make sure I was adding to my life and that it didn’t become my life. It becomes your life once you get onto World Cup, which was my personal thesis of how I was going to compose myself is that I’d never let skeleton control me. It did on the last couple of years there, but it’s a drug…it really is. John Daly has a quote: “It’s just sleigh riding. At the end of the day it’s supposed to be fun.” And that’s stuck with me. John and I were fierce competitors, and I have the utmost respect for him, but that’s something he said to me when I first started in 2010. It’s sleigh riding, it’s supposed to be fun, and I had my fun. I kind of joked that during my last years in skeleton that Peter Pan was eventually going have to grow up and Peter Pan grew up, it’s all good.
