This is the second in a Saturday series looking at the Class of 2011, scheduled for induction Nov. 9 at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo.

Steve Mesler was a fantastic track athlete. He was so good that Mesler's college coach one day said Mesler reminded him of another great track athlete who went on to have success in the ... bobsled?

"I kind of laughed it off," Mesler remembers, "because I said 'You know what coach, I'm a decathlete in Florida, like what does bobsled have to do with me?'"

Mesler, a three-time Olympian and 2010 gold medalist on the United States four-man bobsled team, will be inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 9.

Born and raised in Buffalo, Mesler was a soccer and track standout at City Honors, where he won a national championship in the pentathlon and set eight school records, earning all-city, all-state and All-American honors.

He continued his success at the University of Florida as an all-SEC track athlete. But injuries shortened his career, and Mesler was left with a choice. Not ready to be finished with his athletic career, he made the leap and switched to bobsled.

"They told me it'd be just like Florida, just bikinis and sun, and it turned into cold snowy mountains and a bunch of Europeans," he joked.

And though it seemed strange at first, it was a great fit for Mesler, who made it into the national team program and was with Team USA in 2002 as an alternate. His team medaled, but Mesler was stuck on the sidelines. His team won bronze at the World Championships in 2004 and was poised to medal in the 2006 Olympics. But his team finished seventh.

"It was a miserable, God-awful feeling to have that chance so close, the chance you've been waiting for since you were a kid, to be so close and have it just run away," he said.

His team finished first at the world championships in 2009 and when 2010 offered a chance for redemption at the Olympics, Mesler and his team took full advantage, capturing the gold.

"If everything is given to you all the time, then you can't really appreciate it," Mesler said. "It was stripped away in 2006, I had to watch in 2002, and by the time 2010 came around it was unbelievable."

Mesler has been featured in Sports Illustrated three times, was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the new fitness center at City Honors High School bears his name.

He no longer trains, but has made his former training ground of Calgary his home. These days much of his time is taken up by speaking engagements, for which Mesler travels and speaks to companies about overcoming adversity.

He is also deeply involved with a program he started with his sister, Dr. Leigh Mesler Parise, Ph.D., called Classroom Champions. The program partners Olympic athletes with students in high-need and underserved classrooms.

"That's been probably my favorite thing I've been doing," he said. "The athletes are taking the time, every month they're writing blogs, and they're teaching these kids about perseverance and about goal-setting and about success. So it's cool to be able to have our athletes volunteer their time."

The program has attracted a stable of athletes that includes USA gold medalist Sue Bird (women's basketball, '04 and '08) and paralympic gold medalist Jerome Singleton Jr. (100 meters, '08).

Even with the gold medal, Mesler finds his classroom program among the most gratifying projects he's ever undertaken.

"It's easily the most rewarding thing I've been able to do in my life," he said. "I've been able to recruit friends and fellow Olympians and give them a means to give back."

eos The 21st annual Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame awards dinner is Nov. 9 at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo. For tickets, call 888-2977 or go to www.gbshof.com.

eos email: sports@buffnews.com

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