Dec 02, 2008 - 11:05 AM

By Al Rivett

PICKERING -- There's real irony in Pickering's Shelley-Ann Brown's burgeoning career as a world-class bobsledder.

You see, the 28-year-old sprinter-turned bobsleigh brakeman loathes cold weather. Positively hates it. Yet, the up-and-comer on the Canadian national bobsleigh team tolerates it, and has gone on to thrive in the milieu -- all for a possible shot at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver-Whistler.

"I hate the cold, like, I really hate it," she said over the phone from her hotel room in Winterberg, Germany, the site of the first World Cup event of the season, where she competed in the two-man event with pilot Kaillie Humphries of Calgary last Saturday. "I never in a million years thought I would be doing a winter sport -- ever. I had dreams of going to the Olympics but, trust me, it was always in the summer months."

Serving as the brakeman with Humphries, the duo finished sixth on Saturday aboard Canada 2 in their inaugural World Cup race at the western German town with a two-run time of 1:56.62.

Brown says the expectations for this year's World Cup events, her third season on the circuit, have been raised, considering last season's unexpectedly solid results. The Brown-Humphries tandem finished fifth overall in the two-man (only men race in the four-man events) bobsled last year. Their fifth-place overall finish included a bronze medal at the World Cup event in Lake Placid, N.Y. last December. Brown also set four start records in World Cup events during last season.

This year, Brown said she and Humphries want to maintain their hold on fifth or possibly finish higher this season.

"We like to go fast so, hopefully, we can continue that trend. We're looking for good start times and to stay in the top five."

The World Cup competition, she noted, is fiercest among the Germans, Americans and Canadians. The other Canadian sled consists of veteran pilot Helen Upperton and brakeman Jenny Ciochetti, who've won World Cup gold in a previous season.

"The top two German sleds, the two Canadian sleds and the U.S. sleds are always in the hunt."

An all-American track athlete at the University of Nebraska, Brown earned bachelor's degrees in English and Biological Sciences and then earned her Master's in Educational Psychology. While in Nebraska, she ran sprints (100 metres) as well as the 100-metre hurdles, where she competed against fellow Pickering athlete, Perdita Felicien, who attended the University of Illinois at that time.

She notes becoming involved in bobsleigh was altogether off her radar until receiving a phone call.

"I received a phone call from former Canadian bobsleigh pilot Suzanne (Gavine-Hlady) out of the blue. She wanted me to try it out but, at the time, I was running track at college and starting my masters, so I said 'no'.

"Two-and-a-half years later I had finished my masters and finished working with the track team and, on that very same day, I received a phone call from her. I was sort of in transition. I had a teaching job lined up in Florida, but it had fell through. She said, 'Fine, just try it'. I tried it and I've been on the World Cup ever since."

Brown said it wasn't exactly love at first sight with bobsleigh. In addition to the cold, hurtling down an icy bobsled track aboard a small sled wasn't exactly her idea of fun.

"The first couple of rides were very scary," she admitted.

And, she also noted she felt somewhat claustrophobic in the sled initially before becoming more accustomed to the cramped space she occupies behind the pilot.

"I had a helmet on that was not my size in a little sled with my head between my knees. I said initially, 'This is not for me'. But, you get used to it. Once I tried it a few times, I grew to like it."

She notes competing in bobsleigh in Whistler in her homeland would be a dream come true. She does, however, try to concentrate on her current season before allowing her mind to drift to the possibility of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

The Olympics "definitely comes into your mind. We spent three weeks in Whistler for the team selection this year and you definitely get the Olympic vibe. Everyone on the team is working toward the Olympics. I'm thrilled about it, but not too much. I'm trying to take it one race at a time. We want to try to get ourselves through the next 16 months until the Games."

Whether or not she's Olympic bound in 2010, Brown's positive she'll retire after that season in the bobsled.

"No, I would really like to continue on with life after bobsleigh. I was a latecomer to bobsleigh and it's been a wonderful experience. I thought international sport was done for me, so it was nice to have a second wind. After the Olympics, I want to move on and have a husband and have kids and use my degrees."