Former Notre Dame track star Jadin O’Brien competed for the U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team on February 20-21, finishing seventh in the two-woman event. The 2026 Winter Games took place in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
O’Brien, who graduated from Notre Dame in 2024, is one of the most decorated track and field athletes in the program’s history. Breaking the ACC record, she won three straight NCAA championships in the pentathlon from 2023-2025. She is also a two-time NCAA Runner-Up in the heptathlon, a ten-time All American, and two-time Olympic trials qualifier.
Soon after college, O’Brien transitioned to bobsled training. In an interview with the National Catholic Register, O’Brien described receiving messages on social media after her 2025 track season from U.S. Olympic bobsled athlete Elena Meyers Taylor, who invited her to try the sport. In January 2026, after only a few months of training, O’Brien was named to the U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team. “It’s crazy how fast this transition has happened,” she told the Register. “But I’ve loved every second of it. Going to the Olympics has always been a dream of mine.”
In an interview with the Rover, Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Matt Sparks praised O’Brien’s achievement: “While Notre Dame has had a significant presence in the Summer Olympics, Jadin is in even more exceptional company representing Notre Dame in the Winter Olympics.” Although Notre Dame athletes have won 48 medals in the Summer Games, the university is yet to garner a medal in a winter competition. O’Brien is the first female athlete from Notre Dame to compete in the Winter Games.
Sparks continued, “As a collegiate athlete competing in the pentathlon, she had to perfect skills in multiple track events. I have no doubt her ability to quickly adjust to the various track events allowed her transition to the bobsled over the last couple of months.”
Despite O’Brien’s remarkable athletic ascent, her journey to the Olympics was not always easy. As a child, she was diagnosed with Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS). Her symptoms included obsessive thoughts, compulsive behaviors, and severe anxiety and depression.
As her family pursued multiple avenues for help, O’Brien found inspiration from her confirmation saint, Thérèse of Lisieux, who also suffered from OCD as a child. Even now, her ‘Little Way’ and unrelenting trust in God help O’Brien to see competing in the Olympics as an avenue to glorify God, according to the Register.
Rodney Zuyderwyk, who recruited O’Brien out of high school and coached her for five years at Notre Dame, described the now Olympic athlete’s perseverance after PANDAS in an interview with the Rover: “Even when you grow out of that, you still have a tendency to want to go back to those mental habits. … She’s always kind of had to continue to be mentally strong through those moments.”
Zuyderwyk also commented on the role Catholicism played in O’Brien’s athletic journey, saying, “Her faith played a huge part in her being able to put everything in perspective.” He told the Rover, “Learning to trust God with the final outcomes was a big part of her journey of letting go. … Stop trying to control the outcome and give it to God and compete for God and compete for the joy of competition as he created us.”
With the Winter Games now complete, O’Brien intends to return to track and field for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Gabe Hockstra is a freshman from Aldie, VA studying economics. He can be reached at ghockstr@nd.edu.