Andrew Blaser

Andrew Joseph Blaser (born May 8, 1989) is an American skeleton racer who competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics. He was previously a collegiate track and field athlete at Louisville and Idaho.

Early years Blaser was born on May 8, 1989, in Boise, Idaho to Sherman and Ellen Blaser. He was the youngest of four children in an athletic Mormon family, and danced ballet in elementary school. He attended Meridian High School in nearby Meridian, graduating in 2007. In addition to playing football and basketball, He also won five district titles and set a school record in the 110m hurdles. He was planning to transfer to a junior college ahead of his sophomore year, but a friend of his convinced him to come to the University of Idaho instead, where he walked on to the track team and trained under sprint coach Angela Whyte. Blaser went on the win six individual conference titles for the Vandals. causing him to miss the 2010 outdoor and 2011 indoor seasons after undergoing hernia surgery. Blaser made his return to competition during the 2011 outdoor season. He won his first conference title at the WAC Championships, scoring a career-high 7,037 points in the decathlon to take first place. He set personal bests in six of the ten events en route to the fifth-best score in school history. At the WAC Outdoor Championships, he set another school record with 44 points, winning the decathlon and 110 hurdles events while finishing third in four others. He won seven of the ten events in the decathlon. He also qualified for the NCAA Preliminaries in the 110m hurdles for the second year in a row.

Skeleton career

Blaser spent his first year after college as an assistant coach on the Utah State track team. While watching Cool Runnings, Blaser joked with his sister that he should try bobsledding. In 2017–18 he earned six medals (one silver and five bronze). He finished 23rd and 22nd (out of 27) in his first two races, respectively. He finished in 21st place after three heats and missed the finals.

Personal life Blaser lives in Boise during the offseason, where he serves as an assistant coach for volleyball and track at Capital High School. He also works through the Starbucks Elite Athlete Program. He was the first publicly gay man to compete in skeleton at the Olympic level, competing with a rainbow saddle on his sled. In the days leading up to the competition, he received a shoutout on Instagram from his favorite singer, Sara Bareilles.

His brother, Sherm, won a state title as head football coach at Kuna High School in Kuna, Idaho.