BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Olympic gold medalist and Buffalo native Steve Mesler has been named to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
Mesler, a member of the celebrated four-man bobsled team known as "Team Night Train," earned gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, ending a 62-year drought for the United States in the event.
In a conversation with 7 News on Wednesday, Mesler described his selection as a "dream" but acknowledged the bittersweet nature of the honor.
"One of the things that I can't help but think about is that we're not going to have our driver, Steve Holcomb, there, who we lost eight years ago, almost right around this time to mental health, and that is going to be heavy," said Mesler, adding that at the same time there is a lot to celebrate. "We get to celebrate his legacy and everything that we all did together."
The induction ceremony is scheduled for July 12 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Mesler expressed pride in representing his hometown at the upcoming ceremony.
"When my team goes into that Hall of Fame in a couple of months, it is a piece of Buffalo that is now part of the Olympic history of this country," he said. "I want everybody in Buffalo to take that away. We want to feel proud that we are part of the greatness of this great sports nation."
Mesler, a City Honors graduate, now lives in Calgary and is co-founder of the non-profit Classroom Champions, which has worked with more than five million students across the United States and Canada. He has also started the Mesler Performance Group, which focuses on executive and performance coaching.
As part of the Class of 2025, Mesler will join notable inductees such as tennis great Serena Williams, coach Mike Krzyzewski, and sled hockey legend Steve Cash.
