PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA ¨C United States bobsledder Steven Holcomb¡¯s untimely death last year shocked the fraternity and brought them closer, members of the team said on Friday.

Holcomb, 37, who came back from a suicide attempt over impending blindness to win Olympic gold in 2010, was found dead in his room at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York in May.

¡°We¡¯ve become more than a team, we¡¯ve become a brotherhood that I haven¡¯t seen in the past 10 years in the sport. It¡¯s just how we all came together,¡± Nick Cunningham, who will compete in two-man and four-man events, said on Friday.

¡°We¡¯re all suffering together and the best way to honour Holcomb¡¯s legacy is to carry it on, to always be that threat on the hill, always put in that work and honour him by what we¡¯re doing behind the scenes,¡± he added.

Steven Langton, who won gold along with Holcomb in the 2012 World Championships in Lake Placid, said the team was sporting rubber bracelets to honour his legacy.

¡°It¡¯s just a simple rubber band but it¡¯s something that you never have to take off and it¡¯s a way to remember our friend and brother. Most of us in some capacity got into this sport of bobsled because of Steve, had success because of Steve.¡±

Langton won a bronze medal with Holcomb in the two-man event in the Sochi Olympics before it was re-designated silvers after the Russian team was disqualified following a doping scandal.

¡°I¡¯d like to say this year has been really hard for everyone,¡± Samuel McGuffie added. ¡°I owe a lot of my success now to Holcomb. He¡¯ll be greatly missed from now until eternity.¡±

Carlo Valdes, who joined the U.S. team in 2014, said he had talked extensively with Holcomb ahead of the Pyeongchang Games.

¡°He was so excited to get here and be part of this with us... But I know he wants us to do really well here. He¡¯s watching from above.¡±