From Sao Paulo to Calgary, Davidson de Souza chases bobsleigh dream

Davidson de Souza grew up about as far away from a bobsleigh track as possible.

He was raised in a favela outside of Sao Paulo, Brazil, but the first time he slid down the ice at Calgary's WinSport facility, de Souza knew he was home.

"It was pure adrenalin. It was everything I love," he said. "I came down, got out of the sled super dizzy in Calgary. I was like, 'What the heck was that?' And, 'Can I go up again?' I was hooked right away."

That was more than a decade ago when de Souza was training with Brazil's bobsleigh team. Now he's a brakeman for the Canadian squad striving for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics.

De Souza's path has had more twists and turns than the frozen tracks he slides down.

He grew up in an impoverished neighbourhood with his mother and brother and started working at eight years old. On the cramped streets, he'd offer to take care of strangers' parked cars, hoping they'd give him some coins in exchange.

"I was a good kid. My mom liked the kid I was. But I was a little street kid, too," de Souza said.

At 12, he joined a local track program because it offered free food after practice. He transformed into an accomplished discus and javelin athlete, and when he was about 20, de Souza was approached about trying bobsleigh.

When the Brazilian team travelled to Calgary to train, de Souza's life changed.

"I loved it. I got in love with the sport right away," he said. "And when I came to Canada, I got in love with the country, how people are here, how Canada is beautiful, the security, the safeness. Everything just got me. And I just told myself, 'One day I'm going to live here."'

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