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Jasmine Jones became an overnight hero to Americans hungry for patriotism as they watched the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.
In an interview with PK Press Club Digital this week, the first Olympic bobsledder and Air Force member expressed how proud she was to represent her country, her military branch and her family in Italy.
The display of patriotism sparked viral praise on social media from Americans hungry for an Olympic athlete who can be publicly proud of the country this winter.
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Jones said his journey to reach this point has been defined by overcoming adversity and dedication to his family.
Olympian Jasmine Jones of Team USA poses for a photo on February 3, 2026, ahead of the Milan 2026 Winter Olympics. (IOC via Getty Images)
Jones is a young mother who wants to set an example for her daughter.
Jones had her daughter, Jade, in 2021. They will celebrate her fifth birthday at the end of the month.
Now, as she prepares to compete in her first Olympics, she is proud that she “can be a mom and show my daughter exactly how to overcome different obstacles and what overcoming them means.”
Jones hopes her daughter will learn from her mother’s example by joining the Air Force to advance her athletic career.
“Being able to show her different ways of, you know, you can join the Air Force, you can have these different things besides being an athlete, keep going, and it’s more meaningful to say the least,” Jones said.
The girl is currently being cared for by Jones’ mother in the United States, while Jones competes in Italy.
“I’m glad I have my mom. She takes him in the winter,” Jones said. “I’m grateful to my mother for taking her in and allowing her to be there in Pennsylvania.”
Jones wants to challenge the Germans
At Milan Cortina, Jones is very motivated to face the German elite team.
“The Germans are always competitors in our team sport. They’re definitely great athletes, they’ve got the speed and everything, and I’m really excited to compete against them,” Jones said.
The German team is considered the most dominant force in international bobsleigh. In 2024, they have won 11 of 12 World Championship medals and have won 28 World Cup medals by the start of 2026, while the rest of the world combined has only won two.
“I’m definitely here to compete against the best athletes in the world and I consider myself one of the best athletes in the world, and I’m really excited to go there and make that comparison with them,” Jones added.
“It puts more fire in us.”
Jones had to overcome eight accidents in a single year, but it helped her define her role
During the 2024-25 season, Jones said she suffered eight falls while competing and training for bobsleigh.
“On one specific track, it was about five times,” Jones said.
Kaysha Love and Jasmine Jones of the United States compete during the second round of the two-woman bobsleigh on day five of the 2025 IBSF World Championships at Mount Van Hoevenberg on March 14, 2025, in Lake Placid, New York. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
“Every time you fall, it takes a toll physically, it takes a toll mentally, and going through those falls, I felt really depressed, because I knew that I really wanted to do so much more and try to give it my all, right from the start. So going through that, I really wanted to rethink how I go about my training.”
For Jones, this experience helped define his goal of becoming an outstanding brakeman in the sport.
A bobsled brakeman is the rear athlete responsible for providing maximum acceleration during the initial push, riding backward to maintain aerodynamics, and pulling the brake lever to stop the sled. only after cross the finish line. They are crucial for both an explosive start and safe deceleration.
“If I can become an outstanding brakeman, then I can be put in different positions to make sure I don’t fall again, while still being able to do my best,” she said.
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Jones credits her Air Force training with helping her reach her first Olympics
Jones narrowly missed qualifying for the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. So, she joined the Air Force in April 2023, which allowed her to follow a much more rigorous training routine, which she attributes to her ability to qualify for this year’s games.
“I’m just grateful to be an aviator,” she said. “Coming into the WCAP program, it allowed me to really train in the offseason, allowed me to get to this point. … Having that offseason training to be able to really focus and work. It happened at that time.”
Team USA fans can send Jones and fellow Airman Kelly Curtis, who is also competing in Italy, received a personalized letter through a program involving a partnership between Team USA and Sandboxx.
After giving birth to her daughter in 2021, she sought stability as a means to achieve her goal of reaching the Olympics. The Air Force gave him that path.
“I wanted to do something that would give me more stability. There was a time when I was working my civilian job and trying to train at the same time, and it just wasn’t enough. I know I wanted to dedicate my time to bobsleigh,” Jones said.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned is to be resilient, and I feel like that plays a role in the fact that going into basic training, you wake up early. You follow orders. You get the discipline to do it, and that comes into bobsledding. … So I feel like going from basic training and having that discipline as well translates into just knowing exactly what I’m supposed to do.”
Jones Follows Rigorous Heavyweight Training Routine
American Olympian Jasmine Jones competes in bobsleigh (Getty Images)
Jones’ Air Force training includes heavy power lifting.
“I’m very power-oriented, where I do a lot of squats and cleans and stuff,” Jones said.
But the hardest training she faces, and still struggles with, is snatches.
A snatch workout consists of an advanced Olympic lifting movement in which a bar is lifted from the ground upwards in one smooth, continuous movement. It is a high-intensity full-body exercise requiring explosive power, strength, speed and coordination.
“Snippets are something I struggle with personally,” Jones said. “Sometimes I struggle with that.”
In a sport like bobsleigh, maintaining a certain weight is essential. This also manifests itself in his diet, but not in the Tom Brady way.
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“In our sport, we are pretty strict on the rules when it comes to weight,” Jones said. “In a two-woman sled, the driver and brakeman must weigh a maximum of 80 kilos.[grams]. And throughout the season, I make sure to stay under 80 kilos.
“I still eat pretty healthy, but I’m also not afraid of sugary things. So having that balance works perfectly. I feel like when I focus too much on the idea of eating healthy, that’s when I gain the most weight.”
