Riley Tejcek is not your average athlete. She is also a Marine captain who serves her country with pride and honor. She is one of the few women who have graduated from the Marine Corps Infantry Officer Course, a grueling 13-week program that tests the physical and mental endurance of aspiring infantry leaders. She is also a bobsledder who hopes to represent the United States at the 2024 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
How She Balances Duty and Passion
Tejcek, 28, has been a Marine since 2017, and a bobsledder since 2019. She says that both pursuits require discipline, teamwork, and courage. She also says that being a Marine has helped her become a better bobsledder, and vice versa.
“I think the Marine Corps has taught me a lot about leadership, about how to work with different people, how to adapt to different situations, how to overcome challenges and obstacles,” she told CBS News. “And I think bobsledding has taught me a lot about resilience, about how to deal with failure, how to bounce back, how to be confident in myself and my abilities.”
Tejcek trains for both roles simultaneously, often waking up before dawn to hit the gym, the track, or the ice. She also attends regular meetings, briefings, and drills with her unit, the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. She says that her commanders and peers have been supportive of her dual career, and that she tries to balance her obligations and commitments as best as she can.
“I’m very fortunate that I have a command that is very understanding and very flexible with me, and they allow me to pursue this passion of mine,” she said. “But I also make sure that I don’t neglect my duties as a Marine, and I always put the mission first.”
How She Got Into Bobsledding
Tejcek grew up in Colorado, where she played soccer, basketball, and track and field. She attended the United States Naval Academy, where she majored in ocean engineering and competed in the heptathlon, a seven-event track and field contest. She says that she always loved sports and physical challenges, and that she was inspired by the movie “Cool Runnings,” which depicts the Jamaican bobsled team at the 1988 Winter Olympics.
“I remember watching that movie as a kid and thinking, ‘Wow, that looks so cool, I want to do that someday,’” she said.
She got her chance in 2019, when she attended a scouting camp for the U.S. bobsled team in Lake Placid, New York. She impressed the coaches with her speed, strength, and agility, and was invited to join the national team as a brakeman, the person who pushes the sled at the start and pulls the brakes at the end.
She says that bobsledding is a thrilling and exhilarating sport, but also a dangerous and demanding one. She has suffered several injuries, including a concussion, a broken nose, and a torn hamstring. She has also faced the challenges of traveling, competing, and training in different countries and climates, often with limited resources and facilities.
“It’s not a glamorous sport by any means,” she said. “It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of sacrifice, a lot of pain. But it’s also a lot of fun, a lot of adrenaline, a lot of joy.”
How She Hopes to Inspire Others
Tejcek says that her ultimate goal is to win a gold medal at the Olympics, and to make her country and her Corps proud. She says that she is motivated by the motto of the Marine Corps, “Semper Fidelis,” which means “always faithful.”
“I want to be faithful to myself, to my teammates, to my coaches, to my family, to my country, to my Corps,” she said. “I want to give everything I have, and leave nothing on the table.”
She also says that she hopes to inspire other women, especially young girls, to pursue their dreams and passions, no matter how challenging or unconventional they may seem. She says that she wants to show them that they can be strong, brave, and successful in any field they choose.
“I want to be a role model for them, and show them that they can do anything they set their minds to,” she said. “I want to show them that they can be a Marine, they can be a bobsledder, they can be anything they want to be.”
