Sylvia Hoffman (born June 29, 1989, in Philadelphia[1]) is an American bobsledder who was first discovered and recruited for the national bobsled team on The Next Olympic Hopeful.[2] She is originally from Arlington, TX[3] and attended Louisiana State University Shreveport.[2] Before bobsledding she was a college basketball player and participated in weightlifting.[2]
During her childhood, Hoffman played many sports, including basketball.[3] She eventually played basketball at the collegiate level for Louisiana State University Shreveport.[2] In 2015, she was invited to attend the training camp for the USA bobsledding team.[4] However, she turned down the offer due to not having enough finances so soon after graduating from college.[4]
Hoffman began training in weightlifting[2] after moving to Colorado Springs, Colorado.[3] During this time, she participated in international competitions for the USA weightlifting team.[3]
In 2018, Hoffman competed on the second season of The Next Olympic Hopeful[3] in order to have financial support to train for the Olympics.[4] Hoffman did not win the program but was still noticed by the US Bobsled team[3] and invited to attend the rookie training camp.[2]
With little experience in bobsled,[3] Hoffman won both the Rookie Push Championship[3] and the National Push Championship[2] in 2018. She was officially given a spot on the US bobsled team after participating in the national team trials.[3] With the team, she competed in the 2018-2019 World Cup season.[3] At the Innsbruck, Austria competition, she received bronze with partner Elana Meyers Taylor.[3]
In 2020, Hoffman, with partner Kaillie Humphries, won the World Cup at Königssee, Germany.[5]