Bobsledding star who won three Olympic medals after beating a disease that nearly robbed him of his eyesight is found dead in his room at US training center aged 37

  • Steven Holcomb, 37, was found dead in Lake Placid, New York on Saturday
  • Cause of death is unclear but officials said there were no indications of foul play
  • From Utah, he was a three-time Olympian and still one of the world's elite drivers
  • Revealed in recent years he'd battled depression and tried to commit suicide

By Associated Press

Published: 17:37 EDT, 6 May 2017 | Updated: 19:25 EDT, 6 May 2017

Longtime US bobsledding star Steven Holcomb has been found dead in his room at the US Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York.

Holcomb, who drove to three Olympic medals after beating a disease that nearly robbed him of his eyesight, was just 37 years old when he died Saturday.

The U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Bobsled and Skeleton announced his death, the cause of which remains unclear.

However, officials said there were no immediate indications of foul play. An autopsy was tentatively scheduled for Sunday. 

Steven Holcomb, 37,  may have died because of a pulmonary congestion,  according to the autopsy results. He is pictured here posing for a portrait on September 29, 2013 in Park City, Utah ahead of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics

Steven Holcomb poses for a portrait on September 29, 2013 in Park City, Utah ahead of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. He was found dead on Saturday

Steven Holcomb, front, celebrates his team's gold medal finish in the men's four-man bobsled final competition at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia

Steven Holcomb, front, celebrates his team's gold medal finish in the men's four-man bobsled final competition at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia

Steven Holcomb was found dead in his room at the US Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York (pictured)

Steven Holcomb was found dead in his room at the US Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York (pictured)

The native of Park City, Utah, was a three-time Olympian, and his signature moment came at the 2010 Vancouver Games when he piloted his four-man sled to a win that snapped a 62-year drought for the US in bobsled's signature race.

'It would be easy to focus on the loss in terms of his Olympic medals and enormous athletic contributions to the organization, but USA Bobsled and Skeleton is a family and right now we are trying to come to grips with the loss of our teammate, our brother and our friend,' said Darrin Steele, the federation's CEO who had known Holcomb for two decades.

Holcomb also drove to bronze medals in both two- and four-man events at the Sochi Games in 2014, and was expected to be part of the 2018 US Olympic team headed to the Pyeongchang Games.

He also was a former world champion in both two-man and four-man competition.

'The entire Olympic family is shocked and saddened by the incredibly tragic loss today of Steven Holcomb,' US Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun said. 'Steve was a tremendous athlete and even better person, and his perseverance and achievements were an inspiration to us all. 

'Our thoughts and prayers are with Steve's family and the entire bobsledding community.'

Steven Holcomb posted this picture at the Southernmost Point Buoy in Key West, Florida on Instagram just last month

Steven Holcomb posted this picture at the Southernmost Point Buoy in Key West, Florida on Instagram just last month

 Steven Holcomb's sense of humor was well-known throughout the close-knit bobsled world. He is pictured in December 2013 celebrating a win

 Steven Holcomb's sense of humor was well-known throughout the close-knit bobsled world. He is pictured in December 2013 celebrating a win

Driver Steven Holcomb, Frank Delduca, Carlo Valdes and brakeman Samuel McGuffie, compete in the four-man bobsled World Cup race in Lake Placid, N.Y. Holcomb in January 2016

Driver Steven Holcomb, Frank Delduca, Carlo Valdes and brakeman Samuel McGuffie, compete in the four-man bobsled World Cup race in Lake Placid, N.Y. Holcomb in January 2016

Holcomb was still one of the world's elite drivers, finishing second on the World Cup circuit in two-man points and third in four-man points this past season. His final victory came in Lake Placid last December, when he drove to a two-man win.

He was cherubic, almost always happy in public, someone whose sense of humor was well-known throughout the close-knit bobsled world. 

Yet he revealed in recent years that there was also a troubled side, including battles with depression and a failed hotel-room suicide attempt in 2007 which he wrote about in his autobiography, 'But Now I See: My Journey from Blindness to Olympic Gold.'

'After going through all that and still being here, I realized what my purpose was,' Holcomb told the AP in a 2014 interview.

The depression, he believed, largely stemmed from his fight with the disease called keratoconus. Holcomb's vision degenerated to the point where he was convinced that his bobsled career was ending, and his mood quickly started going dark as well. 

His eyesight was saved in a surgery that turned his 20-500 vision into something close to perfect, and his sliding career simply took off from there.

(Left to right) Steven Holcomb, Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curtis Tomasevicz, of the United States, kiss their gold medals during the medal ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in February 2010

(Left to right) Steven Holcomb, Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curtis Tomasevicz, of the United States, kiss their gold medals during the medal ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in February 2010

Winning gold with push athletes Steve Mesler, Curt Tomasevicz and Justin Olsen at the Vancouver Olympics turned Holcomb into a full-fledged star. 

In the months that followed, Holcomb met President Barack Obama, played golf with Charles Barkley, hung out with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes - they were then a couple - visited the New York Stock Exchange, threw the ceremonial first pitch at a Cleveland Indians game and went to the Indianapolis 500.

He even posed nude for ESPN The Magazine's body issue, an obviously memorable experience for the notoriously rotund bobsledder.

'I'll just say it was interesting,' Holcomb said after that issue was published.

Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.

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