The closest some people get to the Olympics is possibly getting to view an event live. However, Marquette student Andrea Engelmann went a step further and actually tried out to be a part of the Canadian bobsledding team for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Engelmann, a third-year physical therapy student, said she was training for the hammer throw in track and field when a member of the team was auditioning for the Canadian national team.

Her friend thought Engelmann was faster and stronger than she was and that Engelmann should check to see when a talent camp was coming to Engelmann's hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Engelmann said she decided to audition and went through an identification check with sprint speed and weightlifting. She was asked to join the national camp in Calgary, Alberta, in 2004 as a brakeman in a woman's two-crew event.

"Whoever does well there gets invited to the Olympic training group," Engelmann said.

She said she did so well at the training center in the summer of 2004 her coaches asked her to quit school to train full time for the Olympics. Since she was about to start her senior year on scholarship at Marquette, she knew if she quit she would lose her scholarship money and not be able to get her bachelor's degree, she said. So she decided to go back to school.

"Because my times were so good, they said to keep coming back to national camps," Engelmann said. She returned to the camp during winter break.

Most of the time, the camps stop looking for members prior to the summer before an Olympic event. Engelmann said because she scored the second-fastest time of any athlete, trainers told her to return in the summer of 2005. The trainers encouraged her to jump in during an Olympic year.

Engelmann said she earned her bachelor's degree in the summer of 2005 and went straight to training full time at the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. During training, the No. 1 pilot in the country asked Engelmann to push for her.

Lesa Stringer, the pilot who tried out for the Olympics with Engelmann, said she was very quiet in the beginning, but very confident and someone who is reliable.

"In this sport, there's a lot of politics," Stringer said. "It is important to have an individual who can handle the outside pressure."

The team placed second in the national championship and then was put into the World Cup circuit, according to Engelmann. Team members traveled around North America and Europe, but did not do as well as they hoped, placing third in Canada, with the top two going to the Olympics.

"It was an honor and privilege to compete at that level and represent the country," Engelmann said. "It is an indescribable and unmatchable experience."

Engelmann now works as a volunteer coach for Marquette track and field team and works with the throwers.

Rachel Thiel, a College of Arts & Sciences sophomore, said the coaches talk about Engelmann when recruiting students to Marquette and onto the team.

"Because of her (Olympic) training, she is able to relate to us," she said. "She works out with us and having that skill level to set against is great."

Engelmann also takes part in Athletes in Action, a Bible study group, and Fellowship for Christian Athletes. She said faith was a big part of her Olympic career and she prayed a lot about the decision.

"I couldn't have overcome the fear of bobsledding without knowing that God wanted me there," she said. "Going down an ice shoot in a tin can going 80 miles per hour is a scary thing."