Memory of former teammate Leicht fuelling Olympic dream for Humboldt’s Luke Puto

With each sprint helium takes successful training, 25-year-old Luke Puto is inching 1 measurement person to his Olympic dream.

He’s connected the roadworthy erstwhile again arsenic portion of the North American Cup bobsleigh circuit, pursuing a fewer weeks backmost successful his location state of Saskatchewan.

“There’s truthful overmuch much to it than conscionable getting successful the sled connected contention time and seeing however it goes,” said Puto. “It’s bully to spot it each commencement to wage off.”

Puto, 1 of the youngest members of Canada’s nationalist bobsleigh team, is connected a meteoric emergence to becoming 1 of 15 brakemen crossed the state to vie connected the planetary stage.

Beginning his diversion vocation connected the crystal successful hockey rinks crossed Alberta and Saskatchewan, it’s been a thrust that his household has been a portion of for the past six years.

“We were lasting astatine Whistler connected a cool, windy time and I’m sweating due to the fact that he’s coming down an crystal conduit astatine 150 [km/h],” said Luke’s father, Dallas Puto. “It’s exhilarating, but it’s besides a small spot nerve-wracking, too.”

It was during his clip successful hockey that Luke’s household moved to Humboldt, wherever helium was introduced to U18 AA Broncos teammate Jacob Leicht.

The brace would rapidly go adjacent friends connected the Broncos, earlier Puto departed for the Saskatoon U18 AAA Blazers and Leicht moved up northbound to play for the Prince Albert U18 AAA Mintos.

In April 2018, however, everything would alteration pursuing the Humboldt Broncos autobus clang which would assertion 16 lives, including Jacob’s.

“After the calamity happened I was a small spot listless for a portion wondering what I could do,” said Luke. “I didn’t person a direction, I didn’t truly consciousness similar going to schoolhouse astatine that time. Things were benignant of conscionable successful a unsmooth spot.”

Following his lone play with the Blazers, Puto walked distant from hockey and struggled to find the adjacent way helium would instrumentality successful life.

That spark came months aft the crash, arsenic helium assisted the Leicht household successful cleaning retired Jacob’s aged room. It was past helium discovered respective pamphlets near down by Jacob, including imaginable assemblage options and 1 focusing connected pursuing a vocation with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

That’s a way successful which Jacob had expressed involvement anterior to his death.

“It benignant of deed maine successful that time that helium had each these different dreams extracurricular of hockey that helium doesn’t get a accidental to bash anymore,” said Luke. “They disappeared with him connected that day. For me, it benignant of opened my eyes.”

With a occurrence to proceed his diversion vocation lit, Puto began searching for imaginable sports to prosecute astatine an older property and the archetypal effect helium saw was bobsleigh.

He past competed successful a section RBC Training Ground recognition lawsuit and was capable to link with Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton, who kept tabs connected the erstwhile hockey star.

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After years of grooming and getting his times person to the nationalist level, Puto was identified arsenic a imaginable Olympic-calibre brakeman and has since competed connected four-man teams with pilots Pat Norton and Cyrus Gray.

“He’ll request to get faster than helium is now,” said Bobsleigh Canada propulsion manager Quin Sekulich. “But that’s each of them, everyone needs to get faster than they are now, particularly if you privation to beryllium competitory astatine these Olympics. That’s wherever we are arsenic a team.

“Individually, if helium continues to get faster, conscionable cleans up his method a small spot much and conscionable keeps being a large squad guy, he’s going to person arsenic bully of a changeable arsenic anyone.”

The 2026 Milan Olympics stay a vocation extremity for Puto, who volition beryllium looking to adhd much World Cup races to his arsenal with a halt approaching successful Lake Placid, N.Y.

He’s taking a precise hockey-based position connected the Olympic team, though, conscionable taking it 1 contention astatine a time.

“You don’t get rather truthful caught up successful the gravity of what you’re trying to do,” said Luke. “In trying to suffice sleds for the Olympics and trying to get to the Olympics itself, but I’d beryllium lying if it doesn’t popular into your caput wherever you’re reasoning astir it.”

Still adjacent with the Leicht family, the Putos recognition overmuch of Luke’s pursuit of elite contention to the inspiration that helium received from Jacob and proceed to honour the erstwhile Humboldt Bronco astatine their location successful Saskatoon.

“I deliberation we’ll ever person a instrumentality connected our doorstep,” said Dallas. “He meant that overmuch to the household and means that overmuch to us. For Luke to drawback that benignant of inspiration from him truly is encouraging due to the fact that though he’s not with us, helium ne'er leaves.”

Diving successful with some feet into bobsleigh, Puto has turned his grief into a spot connected the Canadian nationalist squad implicit the past 3 seasons and inactive thinks of that fateful time astatine the Leicht home.

He knows that each clip helium hops into the bobsleigh, there’s much than conscionable himself powering Team Canada down the track.

“It’s go much of a full-time manner to maine than it is conscionable a sport,” said Luke. “I person Jacob to convey for that, for pushing maine successful that direction.”