He , along with Janjigian , competed in the two-man bobsleigh event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City , Utah for Armenia . Originally , Janjigian 's brakeman was going to be Ara Bezdjian , but he had to be replaced due to a back injury . He then recruited a weightlifting champion from Armenia , but his visa application was cancelled in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks . Despite both being American citizens and Alexandrou being of Greek descent rather than of Armenian descent , they were granted Armenian residency in order to be eligible to participate . They notably practiced on the streets of San Jose , California on a bobsled fitted with wheels , reminiscent of the famous Jamaican bobsledding team at the 1988 Winter Olympics . This was due to the lack of a proper venue that was available for them to train in as well as financial constraints . They finished in 5th place in the qualifying rounds , only qualifying in their last run . Despite garnering media attention nationally , Alexandrou and Janjigian finished 33rd in the actual event
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Yorgo Alexandrou