Hays, 32, talks about his road to bobsledding prominence, including experiences ranging from flipping burgers at a ski resort in Utah to his use of the infamous "guillotine chokehold" in an "ultimate" fight to buy his first bobsled.

Q1: What was it like growing up in Del Rio, Texas, and when was the first time you saw snow?

TODD HAYS: I'm not sure what year it was, but I do remember it snowing when I was probably in ninth grade in high school. It was quite a celebration. They shut the school down and we went out and played in the couple inches of snow like we were in the Swiss Alps or something. Del Rio is a border town in Texas. It sits right on the Mexico border-there's not a lot of bobsledding going on. Football and baseball are the typical Texas sports and that led me to my football career which took me to the University of Tulsa and then luckily on to bobsled. But, there certainly wasn't any indication of bobsled in my future in Del Rio.

Q2: How did you get involved with kickboxing, especially on the professional level?

TODD HAYS: Del Rio's a tough border town I guess you might say and, as a child growing up, I started developing an interest in the martial arts and trying to protect myself. There's an airforce base in Del Rio and one of the families brought in a young guy my age from Thailand. He and I were friends and he started training me in the art of Muay Thai kickboxing. I learned that as a young man and all through high school and trained at that. I went on to the University of Tulsa and it happened that Del Cook, a guy from Tulsa, was a champion and was on TV there. I went down to his school and we talked and one thing led to another. My skills at that point were fairly decent and he taught me, "hey, you can make a little money doing this." Of course, as a hungry college student, you think you're immortal and you can do anything, so I kinda jumped into that, spur of the moment really.

Q3: What was your experience like competing in the Japan Open World Freestyle Fighting Championships in 1995?

TODD HAYS: It was an invitational freestyle fight and they invited eight guys from all over the world. Freestyle basically means you can bring any art that you want to the ring, whether it be wrestling, boxing, jujitsu, taekwondo, or a mixture of all those, and you win by knockout, submission, or you choke the opponent unconscious. I was pitted against a Japanese shoe-fighter and Roman-Greco wrestler and he was undefeated at the time. He thought that I was a kickboxer and that I'd be very susceptible to a straight takedown, so we planned for him to shoot for the single-leg or double-leg takedown, and when he did that, he would expose his neck. Fortunately it went according to plan. He went for the takedown and when he did, he exposed his neck and I put what they call the "guillotine choke" on him and basically choked him until he submitted. It's really hard to describe and I hate even doing it, because it sounds so horrible, but I'm sure it was much nicer than it sounds-we were all buddies there and no one got hurt.

Q4: How did you find out that the U.S. Bobsled team was holding tryouts in Texas and what inspired you to go?

TODD HAYS: I was watching David Letterman and my brother was in the other room and had just finished watching the news. He came in and said, "I just saw on the news that the U.S. Bobsled team is in San Antonio and I'm gonna wake you up at 5 o'clock in the morning and take you to the tryout." I said, "what would the U.S. Bobsled team be doing in San Antonio, Texas, of all places?" He said, "they're looking for athletes with speed and strength and I think you can do it." I kinda laughed, still thinking he was half-crazy. Of course he is half-crazy, but I thought maybe he had lost the other half. I said, "if you'll get me up, I'll go." I was certain he wouldn't get up at 5 o'clock in the morning. Sure enough, the alarm went off and he was waking me up and had already gotten my aunt's car and had it packed and ready to go. He basically threw me in the car and we headed to San Antonio. I'm just so happy that my brother had some faith in me there.

Q5: When you were working your way up the bobsled ranks, did you have any odd jobs to make ends meet?

TODD HAYS: Absolutely. One of my favorite odd job stories was when I was flipping burgers at the ski resort in Park City-not at the bottom of the mountain, but at the very top. I'd have to take a ski lift to work and I'd have to trudge through the snow. They had a little café-type thing at the very top of the mountain and I was in there flipping burgers with a passion. A lot of the guys that were around when I was doing that like to kid me about that and remind me of my better days.

Q6: What do you enjoy doing for fun in your spare time?

TODD HAYS: I'm almost the opposite of someone who's in the office all day. They go out and do mountain biking or an extreme sport to get away from it all, while I do just the opposite. I come inside and do something pretty slow and boring, whether it's watching movies or reading books or just sitting and flipping channels, and just basically relax. I just try and get away from the speed and the cold and the constant training. For fun, I basically just lounge around.

Q7: How you do you feel about being one of the only native Texans competing in the Winter Olympics?

TODD HAYS: There's a strange sense of pride about being a Texan. Then, being a guy from South Texas in the Winter Olympics, I feel like I'm representing the entire state as well as the United States. I'm proud that I'm one of the only ones to have done it and that is doing it now. But, I know that I carry a pretty big weight on my shoulders there. Texans expect me to not only go, but to succeed, because they've had so many great athletes in the past. It's probably not good enough for them to just go, they want you to win the whole thing.

Q8: What do you feel is your greatest asset as an Olympic athlete?

TODD HAYS: I've heard that the greatest asset an athlete has is the ability to endure and I think that's my greatest asset. I've just hung around long enough and searched far enough and just found something that I had a knack for. Fortunately, it was bobsled because I just really enjoy what I'm doing now.

Q9: What does it mean to you to have the opportunity to compete in the Olympics in the U.S. this year?

TODD HAYS: Obviously, it's always a great experience to compete in the Olympics and wear the red, white and blue and to represent this great country. But, after the events of 9/11, I think everyone has been forced to explore their patriotism and I'm no different. It just makes me even prouder and I feel even more lucky to have this opportunity to wear the red, white and blue and to represent this great nation on the world stage. At the same time, I want to represent them well and make them proud and hopefully put a smile on their face, even it's for 45 seconds. It means a great deal and I'm sure it will be written all over my face when I walk into the Opening Ceremonies and see that crowd.

Q10: What advice do you have for future Olympic hopefuls?

TODD HAYS: Find something you believe in and educate yourself on what it takes to be the best in that sport, whether it be the physics of it or the athletics of it. Find out all there is to know about it and start setting small goals and sub-goals. Start working at it methodically that way and just believe in yourself and endure and eventually I think you'll succeed.