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 U.S.
Olympic bobsled pilot John Napier took some time out
of his schedule to meet with the students of Van
Corlaer Elementary School recently.
Napier, 23 and former student of Schenectady High
School, placed 10th in the two-man bobsled race in
the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.
His Olympic medal hopes were crushed when he crashed
in the second run of the four-man race. Napier
was in 17th place after the first two runs but
because of an injury was unable to complete the
four-man event. This was Napier's first trip
to the Olympics.
Naper offered to meet with the Van Corlaer students
after Joe Bennett, physical education teacher at the
school, told the Olympian that he was teaching an
Olympic unit and Napier was the feature athlete.
"Immediately after the Olympics, he said he would
love to visit the kids," said Bennett, who taught
and coached Napier at Schenectady High School.
Bennett said his colleague Chad Languish had been in
touch with Napier. Before the Olympics
started, Languish sent Napier a DVD in which the
students let him know they were rooting for him and
wished him luck in the games.
Napier is an engineer in the Army and an athlete in
the Army World Class Athlete Program.
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