Monmouth U. Graduate, Track Star, Now A Bobsledder In Milan Winter Olympics

LONG BRANCH, NJ — When the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics kick off this week (the opening ceremony is Friday), look for a Monmouth University graduate on the American men's bobsled team.

Bryan Sosoo, 29, is Monmouth University’s first graduate to compete in the winter Olympics. Originally from Maryland, he chose to attend Monmouth specifically for its track & field program, where he competed in four indoor national championships. Sosoo holds school records in the 100-meter dash (10.69 seconds), 60-meter dash (6.71 seconds) and Triple Jump long jump (48’7.5”).

After college, Sosoo continued to run track professionally with the Central Park Track Club in New York City. It was August 2024 when he was approached by the CEO of the Team USA bobsled team, who had already spoken with his agent.

Would he be interested in trying bobsledding?

"I'm the kind of person that always takes opportunities," he said. "I gravitated towards it pretty quickly, honestly. It required me to step out of my comfort zone. If you say 'no' to something, you may never get that chance again. If I said 'no,' I would not be in the position I am today, which is getting ready to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics."

Sosoo spent January training in the Alps in Austria, and he headed to the mountains of northern Italy last week. He is one of the brakeman, the men in the back who do all the pushing.

"That's typically where you want your fastest guys," he explained. "We push a 400-pound sled on the ice for 40-55 meters as hard and fast we can, and then get into the sled as fast as we can. The pilot drives the sled. Once we start down the track, we're going upwards of 85 to 90 miles per hour. You're just trusting the pilot, trusting that they know the track, the curves and lines they are taking."

"It's definitely a little more dangerous than track," he laughed. "(Bobsledding) is a very dangerous sport. You have to have that grit. But a lot of bobsledding athletes come from a track & field background. One person on our team is a D-1 swimmer, others come from football. We need the power, the speed and strength but applied in a different way, which is pushing a bobsled. Seeing what someone like Charlie Volker could do in the sport really motivated me."

He's referring of course to the famous Rumson-Fair Haven and then Princeton University football star-turned-bobsledder, the first from New Jersey to bring celebrity to the quirky, unusual sport of Olympic bobsledding. (Volker quit the sport of bobsledding this year after he sustained several concussions. Volker said he has still not recovered from a concussion he sustained a few months ago, ESPN reported in January. Concussions are not unheard of in bobsledding, where bobsledders go 80 MPH down an icy track.)

"Every athlete is always looking for the highest place they can get to in their sport," said Sosoo. "To represent the nation — I don't think there is any greater accomplishment. I've achieved a placed many don't get to in their career."

Sosoo currently lives in East Rutherford, NJ with his wife, Megan Gambuti, who was a pole vaulter at Monmouth U.; the two met on the track & field team. And he's good friends with Allie Wilson, another famous Monmouth University track star. He and Wilson trained alongside each other and both graduated around the same time, 2019. Wilson competed in the summer Olympics in the women's 800-meter dash.

Sosoo also earned his MBA at Monmouth University and currently works in human resources for Bristol Myers Squibb pharmaceutical behemoth in New Jersey. The 2026 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony is Friday, and the men’s bobsled races will be Feb. 16-22. Check out his Instagram for bobsledding training pics: https://patch.com/new-jersey/l...