The life of one of the most decorated Utah Olympic athletes will be celebrated on the track where he learned to drive.
USA Bobsled and Skeleton, the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation and the Holcomb family announced Tuesday that a celebration of the life of Steven Holcomb will be held at 2 p.m. June 10 at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City.
Holcomb, a three-time Olympic medalist bobsled driver, died unexpectedly at the age of 37 on May 6 in Lake Placid, N.Y. The cause of Holcomb's death remains unclear, although an autopsy performed by the Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake, N.Y., showed that the Park City Olympian died with fluid in his lungs, The Associated Press reported three weeks ago.
Preliminary toxicology results did not show drugs in Holcomb's system, the report added. USA Bobsled & Skeleton reported Holcomb died in his sleep.
A celebration and reception will be held at the summer pavilion at the Utah Olympic Park behind the Quinney Welcome Center. Family, friends and fellow athletes are scheduled to gather at 9 p.m. to do a walk down the Utah Olympic Park bobsled track to honor Holcomb.
Holcomb, the most decorated American bobsled driver ever, drove for the U.S. since 1998, winning five world titles and five other world championship medals. Holcomb was a six-time overall World Cup champion and a 60-time World Cup medalist. At the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Holcomb snapped a 62-year streak by piloting his four-man bobsled to a gold medal. It was the first U.S. four-man gold medal since 1948.
Holcomb won bronze in both the two- and four-man bobsled events four years later at the Sochi Games in Russia.
The Holcomb family has asked that in lieu of flowers donations be made in memory of Holcomb to USA Bobsled & Skeleton for athletes in need of financial support or GivingVision.org, which is a non-profit organization committed to helping patients with keratoconus. In his 2012 autobiography, Holcomb discussed how he dealt with a degenerative eye disease that nearly blinded him and forced him into retirement.
Holcomb's father, Steven, spoke about his son's life in bobsled and in Lake Placid with The Adirondack Daily Enterprise two weeks ago. Holcomb's ashes were spread on the bobsled track and finish deck at Mount Van Hoevenberg at Lake Placid. The Holcomb family also plans to spread his ashes at the track at the Utah Olympic Park.
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Twitter: @chriskamrani
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune USA's Steven Holcomb, Frank Del Duca, Carlo Valdes and Samuel McGuffie compete during the Bobsled and Skeleton World Cup at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City Friday January 15, 2016.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune USA's Steven Holcomb, Frank Del Duca, Carlo Valdes and Samuel McGuffie compete during the Bobsled and Skeleton World Cup at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City Friday January 15, 2016.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune USA's Steven Holcomb, Frank Del Duca, Carlo Valdes and Samuel McGuffie compete during the Bobsled and Skeleton World Cup at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City Friday January 15, 2016.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune USA's Steven Holcomb, Frank Del Duca, Carlo Valdes and Samuel McGuffie compete during the Bobsled and Skeleton World Cup at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City Friday January 15, 2016.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune USA's Steven Holcomb, Frank Del Duca, Carlo Valdes and Samuel McGuffie compete during the Bobsled and Skeleton World Cup at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City Friday January 15, 2016.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune USA's Steven Holcomb, Frank Del Duca, Carlo Valdes and Samuel McGuffie compete during the Bobsled and Skeleton World Cup at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City Friday January 15, 2016.
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune USA's Steven Holcomb after competing in the Bobsled and Skeleton World Cup at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City Friday January 15, 2016.
Steven Holcomb, front, and Carlo Valdesfahren of the US, compete during the 2-man bob race at the Bob World Cup in Altenberg, Germany, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017. (Arno Burgi/dpa via AP)
First-place winners, center, Steven Holcomb and Carlo Valdes, of the United States; second-place winners, left, Justin Kripps and Jesse Lumsden, of Canada; and third-place finishers, right, Chris Spring and Lascelles Brown, also of Canada, celebrate in the finish area after the men's two-man bobsled World Cup race on Friday, Dec. 16, 2016, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
Driver Steven Holcomb, of the United States, talks with reporters in the finish area after winning the mens two-man bobsled World Cup race on Friday, Dec. 16, 2016, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
US Steven Holcomb, front, and his team, compete in the four-man bobsled competition during the first run at the Bob and Skeleton World Championships in Winterberg, Germany, Saturday, March 7, 2015. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
The pilot from the United States USA-1, Steven Holcomb celebrates his bronze medal win in the men's two-man bobsled competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 17, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Steve Holcomb displays his Superman shirt as he poses for a photograph in front of his sled after the United States four-man bobsled team trials on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013, in Park City, Utah. Holcomb and his crew came in first place. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
The team from the United States USA-1, piloted by Steven Holcomb and brakeman Steven Langton, take a curve during the men's two-man bobsled competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 17, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Driver Steven Holcomb with Carlo Valdes, James Reed and brakeman Samuel McGuffie of the United States, in the finish area after a second place finish in the four-man bobsled World Cup race on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
United States' pilot Steven Holcomb and teammates Curtis Tomasevicz, Steven Langton and Christopher Fogt compete in the four-man bobsled World Cup event on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
United States' Steven Holcomb pilots with brakeman Jesse Beckom during a training run for the two-man bobsled World Cup competition on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013, in Lake Placid, N.Y. Competition starts on Friday. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
Driver Steven Holcomb, of the United States, talks with reporters in the finish area after winning the mens two-man bobsled World Cup race on Friday, Dec. 16, 2016, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
United States driver Steven Holcomb looks on after competing in a four-man bobsled World Cup race Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Driver Steven Holcomb, front, and brakeman Carlo Valdes, of the United States, react in the finish area after second run of the mens two-man bobsled World Cup race with a combined score of 1:29:47 on Friday, Dec. 16, 2016, in Lake Placid, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
Steven Holcomb of the USA and his team compete during the four-man bobsled competition at the Bob and Skeleton World Championships in Winterberg, Germany, Sunday, March 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
United States driver Steven Holcomb, foreground, with Frank Delduca, Carlo Valdes, and Samuel McGuffie, finishes a four-man bobsled World Cup race Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016, in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
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