{"id":180271,"date":"2026-02-16T16:33:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T16:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/180271\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T16:33:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T16:33:12","slug":"olympic-dreams-on-hold-swiss-bobsledder-opens-up-about-cancer-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/180271\/","title":{"rendered":"Olympic dreams on hold: Swiss bobsledder opens up about cancer fight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy\u00a0\u2014\u00a0World-class athletes, thrilling events, stirring medal ceremonies, I will remember all of those from the Winter Olympics<\/a>. But what I experienced Sunday on my 45-minute bus ride from my hotel to Cortina will stay with me longer.<\/p>\n

There was a young woman sitting across the aisle. She looked to be in her mid-20s, about the age of my daughter, and was wearing a knit cap with a Switzerland logo. Her dark hair was in long, thin braids and framed her friendly face.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow\u2019s it going?\u201d I asked, setting down my backpack.<\/p>\n

\u201cNervous,\u201d she said with a faint smile.<\/p>\n

That started the conversation, one that would have me repeatedly wiping my eyes with my sleeve.<\/p>\n

Her name was Michelle Gloor<\/a>. She\u2019s 25 and from a small town outside of Zurich. Her boyfriend, Cedric Follador<\/a>, is pilot of the Swiss bobsled team and has races throughout the week. She was heading to watch him practice.<\/p>\n

Michelle knows all about the sport. In fact, she had been the brake woman on the Swiss national team and had hoped to be competing in these Olympics herself. She grew up as a track-and-field athlete, a sprinter, and only took up bobsled in 2022.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s bobsled \u2014 or bobsleigh, as Europeans call it \u2014 is a two-person operation with a pilot in front and brake woman in back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first responsibility is pushing the sled as fast as I can, together with my pilot,\u201d she said in a German accent and near-flawless English. \u201cI have to sit still and count the curves until we reach the finish line, when I have to pull the brakes. I\u2019m responsible that the sled won\u2019t crash into something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her best friend had made the transition from track to bobsled, was looking for a brake woman, and convinced Michelle to give it a try.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first bobsleigh ride was in St. Moritz and I was so nervous,\u201d said Gloor, a third-year law student at the University of Zurich. \u201cI think I was crying in the back of the sled because I\u2019d never felt anything like that, all the G-forces and you don\u2019t have any cushion in the sled. It all hurts.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut after the second run, I felt the adrenaline and it was great. It caught me from then. It took me two runs.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was 22 and the future was bright. They entered the Swiss championships and won. Michelle got serious about her new sport, training every day, eating right, building muscle.<\/p>\n

Immersed in that world, she met Cedric but for the first 1\u00bd years they were just casual friends. Their conversations were all bobsled-related.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen in spring 2024 he texted me and asked, \u2018How are you?\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cMore personal stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

They had been dating for about six months when a discovery would dramatically change their lives.<\/p>\n

In November 2024, during a routine check-up, a gynecologist found evidence of cancer in Michelle\u2019s ovaries. If there were signs she was ill, Michelle hadn\u2019t noticed them. She had been tired the prior summer, yes, but she attributed that to her training.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty advanced,\u201d she said of the cancer. \u201cI went to the women\u2019s doctor every year and they couldn\u2019t explain why they couldn\u2019t see it earlier. I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m not questioning that anymore. It\u2019s just … yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was no time to wait. By December, she was in surgery. Doctors opened her abdomen from her breast bone down, looking for more growths. They deemed the operation a success, and six months of chemotherapy began in February.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost my hair,\u201d she said. \u201cI had long, black hair. Losing that wasn\u2019t bad. But I lost the hair on my face \u2014 my eyebrows, my eyelashes \u2014 that was hard. But I always knew it just had to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her doctor told her her cancer was Stage 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means it\u2019s on the other organs too,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the difference between Stage 3 and Stage 4 is it\u2019s not in my lungs. It\u2019s in my tummy area but not more upwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen or even men my age, you live in your world, you are following your dreams. And you don\u2019t think about something happening in your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Michelle Gloor, on being diagnosed with cancer at a young age<\/p>\n

Cedric was by her side.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked him after the diagnosis if he wants to join me in this journey or not,\u201d she said. \u201cI can understand if he won\u2019t because we were together not even half a year, and I can understand if he said, \u2018Hey, it\u2019s too much for me. I can\u2019t do that.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThen he took time for himself, and he came back and said he wants to stay with me. He wants to support me in every imaginable way.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe drove me to therapy when he was in town because he had a bobsleigh season going on from November until March, in my toughest time. Every time he was home, he was there for me. When he wasn\u2019t there, we were phoning every day. He was there all the time, even when he wasn\u2019t there physically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her parents and younger brother were there for her too, of course, but she wanted to give them some time to themselves. Cedric was her rock.<\/p>\n

There are elements in his job as a driver that both help him in his sport, and her in her disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a driver, you really need to focus on what\u2019s going on straight ahead of you,\u201d she explained. \u201cYou can\u2019t really switch away your thoughts. You have one minute of full concentration. I think you can compare it to Formula One because you only see the next curve in front of you.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very calm and I think that helps him in a sporting way to not overreact emotionally and stuff like that. But also for me as a partner, I\u2019m very emotional. When I\u2019m too excited or too sad or too angry, he can calm me down to a normal level. On a stress-less level, and to be stress-free is very important for someone who has cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Switzerland's <\/p>\n

Switzerland\u2019s Cedric Follador, right, and Luca Rolli compete in two-man bobsled at the Milan-Cortina Olympics on Monday.<\/p>\n

(Richard Heathcote \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Michelle, petite and pale, has lost about 40 pounds over the past year. Mostly muscle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was avoiding sugar in the beginning of the illness,\u201d she said. \u201cYou read so much stuff. But after losing so much weight, doctors told me just eat what you want to eat. Because having energy is more important than eating too much sugar.\u201d<\/p>\n

In August, doctors discovered more cancer in her. Another surgery to open her abdomen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said it\u2019s still there,\u201d she said. \u201cThose microcells which they couldn\u2019t remove because they couldn\u2019t see them, they grew. But once all those microcells have grown up and been removed, or have been killed by therapy and medication, there won\u2019t be any new cells because the ovaries have been removed, so they don\u2019t produce any more.\u201d<\/p>\n

She tries not to Google her illness anymore. It doesn\u2019t help her frame of mind. She\u2019s changed in other ways, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a very direct person before my illness,\u201d she said. \u201cNow I\u2019m even more direct and straight-forward. I say no, and I don\u2019t explain myself. If I don\u2019t want to do something, I don\u2019t have to. I just say no.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore that, I had a bad feeling about myself and explained myself just because I say no. I don\u2019t do that anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

In December, she began radiation. She has another scan after the Olympics.<\/p>\n

There are times she just can\u2019t believe this is happening.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen or even men my age, you live in your world, you are following your dreams,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd you don\u2019t think about something happening in your life. I only know young people in Switzerland, so I can only speak for them. But they don\u2019t talk about that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not sensible about what can happen, and that\u2019s why it\u2019s important for me to speak out about it. For example, with a women\u2019s doctor, you have to go. It can happen to anyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a young woman. I do sports since I\u2019m 10 years old. I don\u2019t drink alcohol. I don\u2019t smoke. But it still can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her illness has shined a spotlight on her friendships. Lots of her old friends showed concern at first, then went on with their lives. A handful checked in on her frequently. Some are new.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got in touch with a woman during chemotherapy, she was there too,\u201d Michelle said. \u201cShe has breast cancer. She saw my cross necklace, and we were talking about faith and how it helped in those hard times.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still in contact now. We are writing letters to each other. We\u2019re not texting or phoning, just writing letters and sending postcards. She\u2019s as old as my mom, but it\u2019s very cool to have someone with almost the same story.\u201d<\/p>\n

How will that story end? Michelle has her hopes, this fearless young woman who took to bobsledding on her second time down the track.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is to be in the Olympics in four years,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ll be 29 by then. The age is still good \u2014 even better than now for a bobsleigh athlete. And I have a great team. My bobsleigh pilot is very supportive and she said she always has a place for me in the sled.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week, Michelle is supporting Cedric \u2014 just a sliver, she said, of the way he has supported her. They got engaged in December. It happened at sunset in his little hometown in the Swiss Alps.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was talking about himself and us, and then he proposed to me,\u201d she said. \u201cI said yes. Of course.\u201d<\/p>\n