SHREVEPORT, LA. - Former LSUS Women’s Basketball player and weightlifter Sylvia Hoffman has reached the pinnacle. Hoffman will be heading to Beijing, China after qualifying for the 2022 Winter Olympics for the United States’ Women’s Bobsled Team.
Hoffman, born in Arlington, Texas, made the move to Shreveport in 2009 to continue her basketball career for Coach Ronnie Howell and the Pilots. During the 2009-2010 season, Hoffman appeared in 27 games and averaged a little over 11 minutes of action in those games, helping the Pilots go 23-7 that year and make it to the NAIA National Tournament. The following season, Hoffman appeared in 30 games and helped the Pilots make it to the semi-finals of the Red River Athletic Conference tournament. While at LSUS, Hoffman was also a member of the weightlifting team for long-time Olympic Weightlifting Coach Kyle Pierce.
Three years ago, Hoffman was invited to try out for NBC’s second season of The Next Olympic Hopeful for a shot at becoming an Olympic athlete. Despite not winning the show, she was invited to train with the USA Bobsled team. Hoffman, despite minimal bobsled experience, won the Rookie Push Championship at the USA Rookie Camp. She was then invited back to the National Push Championship, where she won again.
A month later, Hoffman recorded the fastest push time at trials for Team USA. She booked herself a ticket to Canada where she won her first international medal alongside three-time Olympic medalist Elana Meyers Taylor at the Women’s Bobsled North American Cup. After many more international victories, the former Pilot punched her ticket to Beijing a week ago for her first of hopefully many Olympic Games.
The Olympic Bobsled Competition will run from February 13-20 at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre in Beijing, China.
Photo credit: Sylvia Hoffman Instagram profile
