Florida’s Mesler, U.S. bobsled team win gold!

Former Florida Gators decathlete Steve Mesler and the four-man United States bobsled team have won the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. A right-side pusher for “Night Train,” a sled piloted by veteran driver Steve Holcomb, Mesler helped send USA-1 to gold in the event for the first time in 62 years (since 1948).

Night Train, which had been on a tear since coming together, also won the 2009 World Championships in Lake Placid, NY, the United States’ first four-man world title in 50 years. The team went on to capture the 2010 World Cup title (for the first time in 17 years) and the 2010 World Cup overall crown. They were the gold medal favorite heading into the Olympics.

USA-1 completed four runs of 50.89, 50.86, 51.19 and 51.52 seconds for a total time of 3:24.46. They beat out second-place Germany and third-place Canada by 0.38 and 0.39 seconds, respectively.

Mesler occupied the third slot in the sled. On each run, he was responsible for managing the balance and speed of Night Train, partially due to the fact that he is the team’s fastest member stemming from his days as a decathlete with the Gators. The two-time Olympian (he was a reserve in 2002) was a key member of the USA-1 sled.

Video of the first two runs is available courtesy of NBCOlympics.com (final two later).