If you have the chance to get a few words in with Mickey Dollens the conversation will be brief and he will say something along the lines of “I am actually about to race, will you be available later?”
And for Dollens this race consists of a mile long ice track, with turns up to 14 feet tall, and a 90 mph ride in a bobsled.
That’s right. This former SMU Mustang traded in his days training in the Dallas heat for zipping like a bullet in freezing conditions.
This past May Dollens graduated from SMU with a degree in English, while playing football for the Mustangs for five years.
Upon graduation, he “saw bobsled tryouts and decided to go for it.” He tried out for the USA Bobsled team and suddenly found himself an “Olympic hopeful,” since he technically has not been to the Olympics yet.
Dollens’ need for thrill and speed has been pulsing in the family veins for a while now. His father is a speedboat racer and his grandfather was a racecar driver. So naturally, he “always felt like racing was part of [his] family.”
Just this past week Dollens made the Junior World Championships in Austria, which will be held in January, and will return to Lake Placid, N.Y. for the World Championship.
Being invited to the Junior World Championships and competing in the World Championships comes at no low price.
He is now living his life around training for the upcoming events. He currently resides in Lake Placid, N.Y., which funds the housing, food and other necessities for the athletes of all winter sports.
Dollens says it “forces everyone to compete at their highest level.” A normal day for Dollens is training, lifting weights, lots of eating and rest.
“There are a lot of similarities in how we train but the biggest difference is that there is no lateral movement, it is all linear,” Dollens said.
He also accredits most of his success thus far to his football background at SMU. The discipline and strict scheduling from his time on the football field has helped him make the transition and become quite successful in less than a year.
It is this same discipline of preparing and adrenaline of competing that keeps him on the ice track.
“The thrill of preparing and getting to compete on game day is how I feel with bobsledding and I didn’t want to let that go,” Dollens said.
And just like every other person, Dollens as well needs his rest. He will return home to be with his family for the holidays before hitting the ice at a flying pace of 90 mph.
In his free time, he has kept up his SMU ties and started a longboarding company, Hilltop Boards.
As the 2014 Winter Olympics approaches, Dollens and his team continue to meticulously prepare and hope to make a name for the USA Bobsledding team.
The one thing that keeps Dollens sledding is the rush.
“It is fast and definitely an adrenaline rush, there is nothing more exciting.”
