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Hunter Powell, a U.S. Olympian and Colorado State University alum, will be the featured speaker at CSU’s campuswide commencement ceremony May 16 at Canvas Stadium.
The former CSU track and field star competed in the four-man bobsled at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Here are five things to know about the commencement speaker:
Powell grew up in Fort Collins and attended Fort Collins High School, where he was a good but not great athlete in a powerhouse track and field program.
He went to Western Colorado University, then Baylor, then CSU, where he became a Mountain West champion and NCAA nationals qualifier.
Powell was out of the country for months before the Olympics but felt the connection through support back home.
More: How Hunter Powell's 'crazy' journey led to 2026 Winter Olympics
“I had hundreds and hundreds of text messages, Instagram messages, Facebook messages, so many just from people back home in Fort Collins, ‘Our hometown boy; go represent,’” Powell said. “I know it sounds corny, but I cannot describe how cool that is. It is the most special feeling.”
Powell said he was so nervous to compete in Cortina for the Olympics that he nearly threw up.
“I haven’t had that since I was a little kid,” he said. “I felt like I was going to puke everywhere.”
The U.S. bobsledders, though, were the first team to arrive in Cortina and the last to compete. They had three weeks to work through the nerves, take in the scenery and soak up the moment, Powell said.
“It was surreal. It was really, really cool,” he said. “I got to take a lot of it in as far as I think the actual feeling getting ready to compete. I probably got more out of that than anybody because the pressure was there the entire time. We had to keep the nerves; we had to watch all the other teams compete, all the other sports. We were the last ones to go off.
“But I’m certain there’s stuff that I missed just because there’s so much going on it’s impossible to do everything. It was just the coolest experience.”
The team of Powell, Kristopher Horn (pilot), Caleb Furnell and Carsten Vissering finished 11th in the competition at the Cortina Sliding Centre.
Powell and the U.S. bobsled team competed in Cortina at the start of the 2025-26 World Cup season. Based on that experience, he and his teammates were expecting to eat well during their stay at the Olympics.
Not so, he said.
“We’re in Italy, you’d expect the food is amazing,” Powell said. “And the food was frickin’ horrible."
Earlier in the season, Powell said, “we would go to a restaurant, and they would make a meal for you, and it was unbelievable. But when they’re trying to have food out 24 hours a day for three weeks straight for about 2,000 athletes, it just nosedives.”
Powell said he had only traveled outside the United States once, “visiting Costa Rica as a little kid” before earning his spot on the U.S. Olympic bobsled team two years ago. In addition to the opportunity to compete at the sport’s highest level, he gets that experience with his fiancée, U.S. women’s Olympic bobsledder Kaysha Love.
“In the past two years, I’ve done nothing but travel the world,” Powell said. “I think I’ve gone to like 20 different countries.
“I have chased and achieved the athletic dream that every kid grows up with, and I did it with the love of my life. It doesn’t get any cooler than that.”
Not much can compare to living out his childhood dream of competing in the Olympics, Powell said.
But speaking at a campuswide commencement ceremony at his alma mater, in his hometown, is right up there.
“That’s another one of those dreams that you could have never said was a dream,” Powell said. “I always had this idea, like the coolest job in the world has to be being some type of motivational speaker. Speak to people and hopefully inspire them to do great things.”
More: Your full guide to CSU, other Northern Colorado college graduations
Some of the so-called motivational speakers he sees now on social media have soured him a bit on that being a career goal, Powell said. But he said receiving the emailed invitation from CSU President Amy Parsons to be this year’s speaker has him fired up, much like he would be if he were competing on that stage May 16 in front of tens of thousands of people at Canvas Stadium.
“I’m nervous but I couldn’t be more excited. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I hope I do a great job, and I hope everybody can take a little something away from what I have to say.”
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado State commencement speaker Hunter Powell: 5 things to know
Continue reading...
The former CSU track and field star competed in the four-man bobsled at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Here are five things to know about the commencement speaker:
He’s a proud Fort Collins native
Powell grew up in Fort Collins and attended Fort Collins High School, where he was a good but not great athlete in a powerhouse track and field program.
He went to Western Colorado University, then Baylor, then CSU, where he became a Mountain West champion and NCAA nationals qualifier.
Powell was out of the country for months before the Olympics but felt the connection through support back home.
More: How Hunter Powell's 'crazy' journey led to 2026 Winter Olympics
“I had hundreds and hundreds of text messages, Instagram messages, Facebook messages, so many just from people back home in Fort Collins, ‘Our hometown boy; go represent,’” Powell said. “I know it sounds corny, but I cannot describe how cool that is. It is the most special feeling.”
Powell’s Olympic experience went from nervous sickness to ‘surreal’
Powell said he was so nervous to compete in Cortina for the Olympics that he nearly threw up.
“I haven’t had that since I was a little kid,” he said. “I felt like I was going to puke everywhere.”
The U.S. bobsledders, though, were the first team to arrive in Cortina and the last to compete. They had three weeks to work through the nerves, take in the scenery and soak up the moment, Powell said.
“It was surreal. It was really, really cool,” he said. “I got to take a lot of it in as far as I think the actual feeling getting ready to compete. I probably got more out of that than anybody because the pressure was there the entire time. We had to keep the nerves; we had to watch all the other teams compete, all the other sports. We were the last ones to go off.
“But I’m certain there’s stuff that I missed just because there’s so much going on it’s impossible to do everything. It was just the coolest experience.”
The team of Powell, Kristopher Horn (pilot), Caleb Furnell and Carsten Vissering finished 11th in the competition at the Cortina Sliding Centre.
The lone Olympics letdown? Food for the athletes
Powell and the U.S. bobsled team competed in Cortina at the start of the 2025-26 World Cup season. Based on that experience, he and his teammates were expecting to eat well during their stay at the Olympics.
Not so, he said.
“We’re in Italy, you’d expect the food is amazing,” Powell said. “And the food was frickin’ horrible."
Earlier in the season, Powell said, “we would go to a restaurant, and they would make a meal for you, and it was unbelievable. But when they’re trying to have food out 24 hours a day for three weeks straight for about 2,000 athletes, it just nosedives.”
Living out his dream with the ‘love of my life’
Powell said he had only traveled outside the United States once, “visiting Costa Rica as a little kid” before earning his spot on the U.S. Olympic bobsled team two years ago. In addition to the opportunity to compete at the sport’s highest level, he gets that experience with his fiancée, U.S. women’s Olympic bobsledder Kaysha Love.
“In the past two years, I’ve done nothing but travel the world,” Powell said. “I think I’ve gone to like 20 different countries.
“I have chased and achieved the athletic dream that every kid grows up with, and I did it with the love of my life. It doesn’t get any cooler than that.”
Speaking at CSU commencement ‘a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’
Not much can compare to living out his childhood dream of competing in the Olympics, Powell said.
But speaking at a campuswide commencement ceremony at his alma mater, in his hometown, is right up there.
“That’s another one of those dreams that you could have never said was a dream,” Powell said. “I always had this idea, like the coolest job in the world has to be being some type of motivational speaker. Speak to people and hopefully inspire them to do great things.”
More: Your full guide to CSU, other Northern Colorado college graduations
Some of the so-called motivational speakers he sees now on social media have soured him a bit on that being a career goal, Powell said. But he said receiving the emailed invitation from CSU President Amy Parsons to be this year’s speaker has him fired up, much like he would be if he were competing on that stage May 16 in front of tens of thousands of people at Canvas Stadium.
“I’m nervous but I couldn’t be more excited. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I hope I do a great job, and I hope everybody can take a little something away from what I have to say.”
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado State commencement speaker Hunter Powell: 5 things to know
Continue reading...
