Alumni Athletics

February 16, 2018 | Team Canada Olympic Website

Former Track Star Competes in Winter Olympics

Phylicia George makes her winter games debut as a bobsledder for Team Canada.

Former University of Connecticut women’s track and field standout Phylicia George to debut in bobsled.

Phylicia George will make her winter games debut as a bobsledder for Team Canada.

Update: Phylicia George and teammate Kaillie Humphries came in third in the two-woman bobsled on Feb. 21, representing Canada in the Olympics. Germany won gold and the United States took silver.

Former University of Connecticut women’s track and field standout Phylicia George ’10 (CLAS) is set to make her winter Olympic debut at PyeongChang 2018. George will become a dual season Olympian as a bobsledder for Team Canada, after competing for her home country as a track and field athlete at London 2012 and Rio 2016.

George becomes the second UConn graduate to compete in the Winter Olympics, following Bethany Hart, also a former women’s track standout, who was named to the U.S. National Women’s Bobsled team and competed in Torino in 2006.

George will compete alongside two-time Olympic champion Kaillie Humphries in the women’s bobsled. Bobsleigh will be held at the Olympic Sliding Centre, with competition running from Feb. 18-21 and 24-25 (Days 9-12 and 15-16).

George made her Olympic debut in 2012 when she competed at the London Games for Team Canada in the 100m hurdles. At the 2012 Canadian Championships, George won the 100m dash and finished second in the 100m hurdles, qualifying her for two events at the summer games. George elected to opt out of the dash to focus on her main event, the 100m hurdles. The decision paid off, as she advanced to the finals, placing fifth with a personal best time of 12.65.

Former UConn women’s track-and-field standout Phylicia George competes in hurdles at UConn. (File photo by Stephen Slade '89 (SFA) for UConn)
Former UConn women’s track and field standout Phylicia George competes in hurdles at UConn. (File photo by Stephen Slade ’89 (SFA) for UConn)

George returned to the Olympic stage at Rio 2016. Picking up where she left off, George once again qualified for the finals of the 100m hurdles and competed on the 4x100m relay team, placing eighth and seventh, respectively.

While at UConn, George was a three-time NCAA qualifier (100m hurdles, 200m, 4x100m). She finished her collegiate career as a Big East Champion and a two-time Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Champion in the 4x100m relay. She was tabbed to ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team, and the CoSIDA Academic All-District Second Team. Her time of 8.33 in the 60m hurdles was the fastest in program history upon her graduation.

Read an interview with George on the Alumni website.