Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL/MAY 2026 7 UNDER THE DOME BY JACK SOBLE B elieve it or not, former Notre Dame tight end Kevin Bauman told Blue & Gold Illustrated, there are some similar- ities between football and bobsledding. At least, as far as the training regimen is concerned. Bauman noticed when his girlfriend, former Notre Dame track and field star Jadin O'Brien, started training for the sport in August. "Our summer workouts were a lot of heavy-sled push mixed with more speed- sled pushes," Bauman said. "There was some crossover, which was cool, because I felt like I had some knowledge on that." O'Brien, a three-time pentathlon na- tional champion for the Fighting Irish, began preparing for bobsled rookie camp Aug. 4. It was a sport she had never par- ticipated in before, and the turnaround was quick: Her final track meet at the US- ATF Outdoor Championships was Aug. 2. Six months later, O'Brien competed in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. She was named to the U.S. Team for the two-woman bobsled Jan. 19, and she finished seventh in her debut games. Bauman, with football behind him, was in Milan to support her. His playing career ended the exact same day O'Brien's track and field career did, but not expectedly and certainly not by choice. He suffered his fourth season-ending leg injury in five years, forcing him to medically retire. Bauman is still processing that reality, which included a fourth (and hopefully final) knee surgery in March. But during the Olympics, there was no place he'd rather be than by O'Brien's side. "They know her as the insane athlete she is, but there's truly not a better hu- man being on this earth," Bauman said. "I know I'm her boyfriend, and I gotta say that stuff, but there's truly no one whose smile lights up the room, just her energy, her presence. "People love being around her, people love her and it's truly an incredible jour- ney to be a part of." FROM NOTRE DAME TO TEAM USA Bauman and O'Brien had been close friends since their freshman year together at Notre Dame. They joined the same master's program after finishing their un- dergraduate degrees, and Bauman credited that program with bringing them together. They began dating in March 2025. "Things get competitive," Bauman said. "We could be doing push-ups, whatever it might be, but she will always get the last laugh. She'll always do the one extra rep. She'll always lean forward at the end if we're doing sprints together." O'Brien, a Pewaukee, Wis., native, is one of Notre Dame's most decorated track athletes ever. In addition to being a three-time national champion in the pentathlon, she's a two-time runner-up in the heptathlon and a 10-time All- American. She also owns top-10 marks in program history in hurdles, long jump, javelin and shot put. "She's disciplined unlike anybody I've ever met," Bauman said. "She's never satisfied, almost to a fault. She gives ev- erything she has in everything she does." That work ethic translated to the bob- sled track, which wasn't a consideration for O'Brien until she received an Insta- gram DM from her eventual teammate, Elana Meyers Taylor. It was on her radar during her season at Notre Dame, but only in the back of her mind as she tried to finish her track and field career strong. As soon as she returned to South Bend in August, though, she was all in. Within 10 days, she departed for rookie camp in Lake Placid, N.Y. Her workouts were different, and she tried to watch film — just to get a feel for how the sport works — whenever she could. "I didn't know the first thing about bobsled at that time, but it was just a matter of being vocal about it and shar- ing that information, looking for feed- back from anywhere she could get it," Bauman said. "She attacked it. She went for it, and it clearly paid off." 'SIMILAR-ISH WORLDS' On Jan. 6, Bauman thought O'Brien's athletic career might have come to the same untimely end that his did. Or worse. continued on page 8 UNDER THE DOME FRONT-ROW SEAT Inside former Notre Dame track star Jadin O'Brien's rise to Olympics, with former Irish tight end Kevin Bauman by her side Bauman traveled to Italy to support his girlfriend — and Irish track and field star turned Olympic bob- sledder — O'Brien at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games. PHOTO COURTESY KEVIN BAUMAN