U.S. Bobsledder Sylvia Hoffman on 'Crazy' Journey to Olympics — and How Reality TV Was Involved

Sylvia Hoffman/Instagram Sylvia Hoffman

Sylvia Hoffman has long known she'd one day become an Olympian, but the path to a Winter Games always seemed to elude her. Until now, that is.

"I always wanted to represent my country," Hoffman, 32, tells PEOPLE. "I just didn't know in what way. I wanted to join the military, or play sports and wear 'U.S.A.' I just didn't know how."

Finally, in Beijing next month, the newest member of the dominant U.S. women's bobsled team is poised to achieve her lifelong dream and represent the country on the biggest stage, after switching to the sport in 2018.

Hoffman can only laugh now, thinking back to how she went from a novice slider to an Olympian in less than four years. And her quick rise through her new sport has a great origin story: Hoffman was discovered by the U.S. Bobsled & Skeleton Federation because of a reality television show she didn't know she had even signed up for.

"It's crazy, but it's believably crazy," Hoffman giggles over the phone, remembering all the different sports she tried in her life and the times she thought she'd reached the end of her career.

First, there was gymnastics, and then both softball and soccer, before eventually going all-in on basketball. That led to training camp invitations from USA Basketball while she was in high school and later landed Hoffman on LSU-Shreveport's collegiate team for four years, from 2009-2012.

But the dream of making the Olympics never disappeared from Hoffman's mind, and when a friend on LSU's weightlifting team invited her to watch Olympian Kendrick Farris attempt to break a world record at the school's performance center, Hoffman thought that the sport was maybe her big shot.

"He didn't break the record, but the fact he attempted it in front of me got me so excited," Hoffman recalls. "The gym was filled with people watching just as if it was a basketball game. And I was like, 'Wow! I want to do that.' "

So, Hoffman approached the weightlifting coach and asked how she could join the team. "He didn't believe me, so I kept coming back," she laughs.

Sylvia Hoffman/Instagram Sylvia Hoffman

Sylvia Hoffman/Instagram Sylvia Hoffman

RELATED: Nina Dobrev Raves About Boyfriend Shaun White Ahead of Olympics: 'I'm So Proud of Him'

The weightlifting beginner dove headfirst into the sport, soon clawing her way to a roster spot with Team USA and unexpectedly discovering she had opportunities to compete around the world. "I remember being like, 'Wait a minute, this competition is in Malaysia?' Like, 'What? You've got to leave the country? That's awesome!' " she recounts, cracking up at her naivety. "I never left the country until I made my first weightlifting team."

But again, Hoffman felt like she began to hit a ceiling. "I had the physical capabilities but not the technique" required to get to an Olympic level, she says. She thought maybe it was time to start using her degree in computer information systems and work full-time instead.

After moving to Colorado Springs in 2013 — where there were both employment opportunities and an Olympic training facility — Hoffman got a job with Geek Squad and then accepted a position as an installation tech with Hewlett-Packard. But the routine began to feel like treading water: "I was on autopilot."

"It was a very depressing time," she says. "Then I saw an ad for The Next Olympic Hopeful and that it was going to be in Colorado Springs at the Olympic training center 15 minutes away from my house."

RELATED: U.S. Skating Champs Like Nathan Chen & Mariah Bell Open Up About Podium Dreams and Olympic Prep

The Olympic training camp she signed up for turned out to be a televised, NBC reality competition series designed as a pipeline for discovering potential athletes for six different Team USA sports.

"I was literally on a foam roller, rolling out and stretching, and the guys around me are like, 'Man, last season was so great, did you watch it?' And I'm like, 'Watch what? I'm just trying to make a team,' " Hoffman says. "Then I started Googling it while I'm stretching out on the floor and I'm like, 'Oh my god, what did I just sign up for?' "

Hoffman's 2018 tryout caught the attention of the U.S. bobsled coaches and she was invited to team trials the next month, where she was selected by two different pilots to join their four-woman squad.

Hoffman again dove headfirst into a new sport, quickly qualifying for the Bobsleigh World Cup — the league for international-level competition where all the world's Olympic bobsledders compete. "All this happened in like three months," Hoffman says. "It was crazy. It all happened really fast."

Caroline Seidel/picture alliance/Getty Sylvia Hoffman

Adam Pretty/Getty Sylvia Hoffman

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

Now, Hoffman hopes the only thing moving that fast will be her team's sled, as she tries to relish the few moments of reflection ahead of Beijing Games with her teammates Kaillie Humphries, Elana Meyers Taylor, and fellow Olympic rookie Kaysha Love.

The U.S. women have been one of the most dominant teams in the sport, alongside the Germans, medaling in every bobsled competition since its Olympic debut in 2002. Team USA is widely expected to medal again after the team added Humphries — a two-time gold medalist and the most decorated woman in the history of the sport — in December after the Canadian pilot was granted U.S. citizenship.

For Hoffman, a podium finish would mean the ultimate childhood dream accomplished.

"Once they announced I made the team, I got off the phone and I just started crying," Hoffman recalls.

"When you have a purpose and you believe you can do something, there's no telling how far you can go. All these other doors end up opening because you're searching," she adds. "This is something that can happen for anyone as long as they pursue it and believe it, and make sure that they're doing everything they can to make those things come true. It's not impossible. Nothing is impossible."

To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, visit TeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, beginning Feb 3, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.