Bonny Warner
Encyclopedia
Bonny Warner is an American
luge
r who competed from the early 1980s to the early 1990s. She later competed in women's bobsleigh
from 1999 to 2002. She was a pilot for United Airlines
from 1990 to 2004, when she quit United and went to work for JetBlue Airways.
began when she was a torchbearer for the 1980 Winter Olympics
in Lake Placid, New York
while as a freshman from Stanford University
. While watching the luge competitions in Lake Placid
, she became hooked on the event. This would lead Warner to travel to West Germany
and follow luge activities over there. Warner would then learn to speak fluent German
while over there. While at Stanford, Warner switched her major from civil engineering
to broadcast journalism
after earning an athletic scholarship
to play field hockey
. Competing in three Winter Olympics, she earned her best finish of sixth in the women's singles event at Calgary
in 1988
.
, Warner retired and served as a color commentator
for CBS Sports
during their coverage of the Winter Olympics in 1994
and 1998
. Prior to that, she had been a television
sports reporter for the San Francisco area during the mid 1980s.
in Calgary, Warner earned a 10,000 USD
scholarship and earned her aviator
's license. Prior to joining United in November 1990, she worked as a flight instructor and a corporate pilot. One of Warner's clients as a corporate pilot was the late promoter Bill Graham
.
and paramedic
who was in one of her classes in 1996. A daughter, Katlin, was born in 1998.
, Warner went over to bobsleigh and competed from 1999 to 2002. While searching for a brakeman, she discovered Vonetta Flowers
, who would go onto win the gold medal in the two-woman event at the 2002 Winter Olympics
in Salt Lake City. Warner's best seasonal finish in the Bobsleigh World Cup was third overall in 2000-1. During the 2001-2 Bobsleigh World Cup, Warner carried on her sled a memorial to the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks
in New York
and Washington, DC. She tried out for the 2002 US team, but did not qualify though Flowers did. She also participated in simulation for bobsleigh starts prior to the 2002 games. Because she did not qualify for the 2002 Winter Olympics, she worked for NBC Sports
during their television coverage of the games.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
luge
Luge
A Luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine and feet-first. Steering is done by flexing the sled's runners with the calf of each leg or exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh 21-25 kilograms for singles and 25-30 kilograms for doubles. Luge...
r who competed from the early 1980s to the early 1990s. She later competed in women's bobsleigh
Bobsleigh
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of two or four make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled that are combined to calculate the final score....
from 1999 to 2002. She was a pilot for United Airlines
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
from 1990 to 2004, when she quit United and went to work for JetBlue Airways.
Luge career
Warner's career in lugeLuge
A Luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine and feet-first. Steering is done by flexing the sled's runners with the calf of each leg or exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh 21-25 kilograms for singles and 25-30 kilograms for doubles. Luge...
began when she was a torchbearer for the 1980 Winter Olympics
1980 Winter Olympics
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...
in Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....
while as a freshman from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. While watching the luge competitions in Lake Placid
Luge at the 1980 Winter Olympics
-Men's singles:-Doubles:The doubles team of Hans Rinn and Norbert Hahn became the first repeat winners of an Olympic luge event.-Women's singles:-Medal table:-References:***...
, she became hooked on the event. This would lead Warner to travel to West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
and follow luge activities over there. Warner would then learn to speak fluent German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
while over there. While at Stanford, Warner switched her major from civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
to broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are "broadcast", that is, published by electrical methods, instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. Broadcast methods include radio , television , and, especially recently, the Internet generally...
after earning an athletic scholarship
Athletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...
to play field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
. Competing in three Winter Olympics, she earned her best finish of sixth in the women's singles event at Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
in 1988
1988 Winter Olympics
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...
.
Broadcasting career
Following the 1992 Winter Olympics1992 Winter Olympics
The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 8 to 23 February 1992 in Albertville, France. They were the last Winter Olympics to be held the same year as the Summer Olympics, and the first where the Winter Paralympics...
, Warner retired and served as a color commentator
Color commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
for CBS Sports
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...
during their coverage of the Winter Olympics in 1994
1994 Winter Olympics
The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Lillehammer failed to win the bid for the 1992 event. Lillehammer was awarded the games in 1988, after having beat...
and 1998
1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...
. Prior to that, she had been a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
sports reporter for the San Francisco area during the mid 1980s.
Airline career
After the 1988 Winter Olympics1988 Winter Olympics
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...
in Calgary, Warner earned a 10,000 USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
scholarship and earned her aviator
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
's license. Prior to joining United in November 1990, she worked as a flight instructor and a corporate pilot. One of Warner's clients as a corporate pilot was the late promoter Bill Graham
Bill Graham (promoter)
Bill Graham was an American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death.-Early life:...
.
Personal life
Warner married Tony Simi, a firefighterFirefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
and paramedic
Paramedic
A paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...
who was in one of her classes in 1996. A daughter, Katlin, was born in 1998.
Bobsleigh career
After a 1999 vacation to Park City, UtahPark City, Utah
Park City is a town in Summit and Wasatch counties in the U.S. state of Utah. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City's east edge of Sugar House along Interstate 80. The population was 7,558 at the 2010 census...
, Warner went over to bobsleigh and competed from 1999 to 2002. While searching for a brakeman, she discovered Vonetta Flowers
Vonetta Flowers
Vonetta Flowers is an American bobsledder and athlete. Flowers was a star sprinter and long jumper at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and originally aspired to make the U.S. Summer Olympic Team...
, who would go onto win the gold medal in the two-woman event at the 2002 Winter Olympics
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...
in Salt Lake City. Warner's best seasonal finish in the Bobsleigh World Cup was third overall in 2000-1. During the 2001-2 Bobsleigh World Cup, Warner carried on her sled a memorial to the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Washington, DC. She tried out for the 2002 US team, but did not qualify though Flowers did. She also participated in simulation for bobsleigh starts prior to the 2002 games. Because she did not qualify for the 2002 Winter Olympics, she worked for NBC Sports
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News," it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, the NHL, MLS, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others...
during their television coverage of the games.