Jamie Greubel Poser displays the red, white and blue after she drove to the bronze medal with Aja Evans at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. (Enterprise file photo — Lou Reuter)

LAKE PLACID — Jamie Greubel Poser barely missed making the Vancouver Games in 2010 as a brakeman. It was that miss that changed the course of her career, moving the Newtown, Pennsylvania native from the back seat to front seat, where she earned 27 World Cup medals and the 2014 Olympic bronze medal while navigating bobsled tracks around the world. The thrill of competing kept Greubel Poser in a sled for 11 years.

Now she’s finding a thrill at the front of a classroom instead of the front of a sled. Greubel Poser has decided not to return to the ice, instead taking a job as an elementary school teacher in Germany, where she said she’s “lucky to have found the perfect school” and to “be part of an international community.”

“We are proud of what Jamie’s accomplished in bobsled, but we are equally as proud of Jamie for who she is and how she stepped up when it mattered as a team leader,” USA Bobsled & Skeleton CEO Darrin Steele said. “Her absence on the team will be felt and we’ll miss her, but she created a legacy that will leave a lasting impression with the new athletes coming into the program. Her students are lucky to have someone as dedicated as Jamie is at the front of their class. We wish Jamie well in this next chapter of her life.”

Greubel Poser said there’s been a lot to learn in her new environment with new routines, challenges and expectations, but that she’s settling in.

“The transition was intimidating at first, but I have been warmly welcomed and supported by an incredible community at my school,” Greubel Poser said. “Teachers are some of the most dedicated, hard working and passionate people out there. For me it’s that same hard work, dedication and passion it took to compete at the Olympics that I’m now putting towards my teaching career.”

Greubel Poser married German bobsledder, Christian Poser, four years ago. The couple decided to make their home in Germany, and Greubel Poser has spent the last Olympic quad splitting her time between the U.S. with her teammates and Germany with her husband. 

“It’s amazing how much bobsled has shaped and changed my life,” Greubel Poser said. “I never dreamed I would be married to another bobsledder and living in Germany. We have been married for four years now and competed in two Olympics together. It is an amazing experience that we are very fortunate to share.”

Before bobsled, Greubel Poser was a track and field standout at Cornell University. She was a member of four Indoor and four outdoor heptagonal championship teams, and individually won four Heps Championships. She holds the school record in outdoor heptathlon and indoor pentathlon and is one of only three three-time outdoor Heps Champions in Ivy League history.

After graduating, Greubel Poser wasn’t ready to end her sports career, feeling like she had more to give. A former track teammate encouraged her to try out for the sport of bobsled, and Greubel Poser was drawn to the opportunity to be a part of a team again.

“I had no idea where it would take me,” Greubel Poser said. “I certainly never imagined it would lead me to meeting my husband.”

Greubel Poser took a chance, packing her bags for Lake Placid to give bobsledding a try. She said she’d never forget her first trip in a bobsled.

“It felt like I was put in a tin can and kicked off a cliff,” Greubel Poser said. “I thought it was the first and last time I’d ever get in a bobsled. Luckily, Phoebe Burns, a U.S. bobsled pilot who took me for my first ride down the track, made everything so much fun. She kept telling me that I had a lot of potential and that I should give it another try. She invited me to race with her, and once I actually got to compete in the sport I knew I had a new passion to pursue.”

Greubel Poser’s new passion took her around the world, where she raced to 27 World Cup medal finishes, a World Championship bronze medal and to the Olympic podium. Greubel Poser said she especially cherishes three of those medals.

The first is winning the 2014 Olympic bronze medal with Aja Evans, which she describes as “the most incredible moment of my athletic career.” 

“There is no feeling in the world like standing on the Olympic podium with a medal around your neck and ‘USA’ on your back,” Greubel Poser said.

Winning the final World Cup gold medal of her career in Park City, Utah in 2017, the first career victory for her brakeman Lauren Gibbs, is also a special memory for Greubel Poser. She was able to share the victory with her husband, who also won gold in the two-man race that day. Setting a track record and racing to victory on her home track in Lake Placid during the 2016 World Cup in front of her family and friends was another highlight for Greubel Poser.

But one of the most special moments of her career was at the Pyeongchang Games in 2018. Greubel Poser’s 17-year-old sister, Elizabeth, was adopted from South Korea as a baby, giving her a deeper meaning to her experience at the Olympics.

“It was the first time she had been back to South Korea and the first time she had ever seen me compete, so to have her there and share that experience with my family was incredibly meaningful,” Greubel Poser said.

After crossing the finish line in Pyeongchang, where she finished fifth, Greubel Poser didn’t have a plan. She took some time to reflect and realized she was proud of what she’d accomplished and satisfied with her career.

“I have had the honor to compete for Team USA, go to two Olympic Games, and travel around the world with incredible athletes and teammates who have become lifelong friends,” Greubel Poser said. “Now it feels like the right moment to begin the next chapter of my life.

“I really want to thank everyone who has believed in me, supported me and been a part of this journey, especially my team, coaches, staff, family and friends, sponsors and the Lake Placid community,” Greubel Poser said. “Representing Team USA is an incredible honor and this has been the experience of a lifetime.”