![\"Monsignor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/MGQQ5KJJNFATBIIM7674WH4OOM.jpg\")
Staten Island native Alex Taddeo poses at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, where he begins a bobsled\/skeleton camp on Oct. 5.Alex Taddeo<\/p>\nSince he was a child, Staten Island native Alex Taddeo has dreamed of qualifying for the Olympics as a track and field athlete. <\/p>\n
The Monsignor Farrell and Wagner College alum is still chasing that Olympics dream \u2014 it just looks a little different now.<\/p>\n
After the Grant City native learned about the strong pipeline of NCAA track athletes transitioning to skeleton and bobsled, he decided he would swap the track for the ice despite never competing in either winter sport.<\/p>\n
Taddeo has since qualified for a Team USA developmental camp in Lake Placid, New York, which begins Monday. Lake Placid is one of the major official Winter Olympic training grounds in the nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was watching the 2026 Olympics in Italy, there was a guy on Team USA from Monmouth who ran track like me, and that sparked my interest,\u201d said the 22-year-old. \u201cThen I saw the NCAA post about all their athletes from track that transitioned into bobsled and skeleton, and I thought, \u2018There must be a pathway for me too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taddeo attended a combine in May, one day after graduating from Wagner. He did enough to impress, and earned the invite to camp.<\/p>\n
He believes having the track and field mechanics down pat have allowed him to have early success in sports he\u2019s still learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very explosive as a short sprinter, so I\u2019ve tended to hone in on the first 30 or 40 meters of my race, where I need to be explosive,\u201d said Taddeo. \u201cNow it\u2019s just about practicing different angles I need to hit in order to project my body forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything that I\u2019ve been trying to craft myself to be perfectly transitioned over. It was just something I was able to pick up almost as if I\u2019ve been doing it my whole life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taddeo arrived in Lake Placid within the last two weeks to train ahead of the official start of camp. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of fun up here. There\u2019s a lot of good athletes and good people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of new experiences. We\u2019ll practice for about two hours pushing the bobsled down a steep track of ice, which is a lot of fatigue on the body, but the coaches have been great to help us, especially with recovery and feeling good the next day.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to compete in track and do well in school was challenging, but it made me realize that anything is possible. (Monsignor Farrell and Wagner College) really set me on a good path to be able to pursue something like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Staten Island native Alex Taddeo poses at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, where he begins a bobsled\/skeleton camp on Oct. 5.Alex Taddeo<\/p>\n
There may be a long way to go before the 2030 Olympic Games in France, but Taddeo said competing for Team USA would fulfill a lifelong goal. Should he make the Olympic team, he\u2019d be in good company, joining Staten Islander-born athletes turned Olympians Robert Pipkins, Richard Parke, Silvia Fontana, and Gary di Silvestri.<\/p>\n