Growing up he lived in parks, on the streets and in foster homes, but from Feb. 12 thru Feb. 28 he lived in Vancouver at the Olympic Village.

Bill Schuffenhauer grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his mother and step-father who were drug addicts. The family couldn’t keep an apartment for long and often lived on the streets, or Schuffenhauer would live in foster homes. He drank, skipped school and got high a lot. During all this, Schuffenhauer never would have guessed he would someday be an three-time Olympian.

“I knew there was something better,” said Schuffenhauer in an interview with CNN, “and although there were a lot of horrible things that happened, it’s made me a stronger person.  By the time he entered Junior High Bill was living with his maternal grandmother, Sadie Muniz, in Roy, Utah, a city about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City.

Schuffenhauer was inspired by his grandmother, she was a steading influence and she was there to help when he messed up or started to stray. “She reminded me to never give up and always push on,” he said.

He began attending school regularly and joined the track team. This was his new family. His coach told him he had the talent to be an Olympian. With that encouragement he worked hard and went on to college and won the junior nationals in 1992.

An ankle injury kept Schuffenhauer from going to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, but he learned about a new bobsled track where the U.S. team was training and went to check it out. This led to the beginning of his bobsled career.

Now Schuffenhauer is 36 and an athlete at the 2010 Olympics, and says that a medal of any color would be nice. After these Olympics he plans to return home with his girlfriend and two children to begin the next chapter of his life.

For the full story visit CNN.com.