|
|
Letting It Slide -
washingtonpost.com graphic
Adrenaline Rush -
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Jill
Bakken and Vonetta Flowers in USA-2 christened the women’s bobsleigh
competition with a gold medal performance that threw teammates Jean
Racine and Gea Johnson deeper into the shadow of the manipulation that
characterized the American team trials in December. In the process,
Flowers became the first black American athlete to win a medal in the
Olympic Winter Games. Germany dominated the men’s two-man and four-man
events, with Christoph Langen driving to victory in the former and
Andre Lange taking the gold medal in the latter. USA sleds piloted by
Todd Hays and five-time Winter Olympian Brian Shimer finally put their
country back in the medal column after a 46-year absence, winning
silver and bronze, respectively.
If they
gave a prize for personality per gold medal, skeleton would win hands
down — or face down. Jim Shea, the first-ever third-generation
American Winter Olympian, brought his fiery style to Park City and
converted his energy to gold in the men’s event, edging silver
medalist Martin Rettl of Austria by 0.05 of a second. Spunky Tristan
Gale, her hair streaked red, white and blue, streaked to a one-second
victory over teammate Lea Ann Parsley. The silver medalist, a former
Ohio Firefighter of the Year, played a special role in the Opening
Ceremony by helping carry the flag that survived the World Trade
Center attacks. “It’s been a great day for the U.S., and U.S.
skeleton,” Parsley said. “Two golds and a silver. You can’t ask for
any more than that.”
MEN
TWO-MAN |
|
Christoph Langen & Markus Zimmermann (GER) |
|
|
Steve Anderhub & Christian Reich (SUI) |
|
|
|
Martin Annen & Beat Hefti (SUI) |
|
FOUR-MAN |
|
GERMANY |
|
|
UNITED STATES |
|
|
|
UNITED STATES |
|
SKELETON
NEW |
|
Jim Shea (USA) |
|
|
Martin Rettl (AUT) |
|
|
|
Gregor Staehli (SUI) |
WOMEN
TWO-WOMAN
NEW |
|
Jill Bakken & Vonetta Flowers (USA) |
|
|
Sandra Prokoff & Ulrike Holzner (GER) |
|
|
|
Susi-Lisa Erdmann & Nicole Herschmann (GER) |
|
SKELETON
NEW |
|
Tristan Gale (USA) |
|
|
Lea Ann Parsley (USA) |
|
|
|
Alex Coomber (GBR) |
|
MEDAL TALLY |
||||
|
|
|
|
Total |
United States |
3 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
Germany |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
Switzerland |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Austria |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
Great Britain |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Total |
5 |
5 |
5 |
15 |
VENUE & EVENTS
Utah Olympic
Park
Utah Olympic Park, 24 miles
east of Salt Lake and four miles north of Park City on State Route 224
The Utah Olympic Park is a 156-hectare/386-acre complex in the Upper East Canyon Creek watershed that includes a regulation Olympic bobsleigh and luge track and five regulation jumps. The venue will accommodate an audience of 21,000 for ski jumping and 15,600 for track events.
Popular for its high-speed descents along a slick, winding track, bobsleigh is one of the oldest events at the Olympic Winter Games. The sport demands strength and tremendous concentration to launch and guide a bullet-like sled down a treacherous track. Every fraction of a second counts. At Utah Olympic Park, athletes will whip down the 15-curve course just inches from fans. Incredible vantage points, including several bridges, promise many front-row views of all the action. As a bonus to spectators, women's bobsleigh will debut as a medal event in 2002.
Two- and four-member teams fly down a mile-long, ice-covered course in an aerodynamic sled at speeds of as much as 90 mph. The team with the fastest combined time after two runs gets the gold. The two- or four-member crews push-start the sled and jump in. The crewman in front steers the sled and is called the driver. The man in the back is the brakeman. On the four-man team, the other two are called side-push men. The push-start is crucial; it, and gravity, are all the power allowed. The two-man team - sled and crew combined - can weigh no more than 858 pounds, and the four-man no more than 1,386 pounds. Crews falling under these restrictions may add weights to the sled. The sled's runners may not be heated - their temperatures are taken before each race - nor lubricated.
As if bobsleigh and luge events aren't bone-rattling enough, officials have revived skeleton racing for the 2002 Games (skeleton events were held at St. Moritz in 1928 and 1948 as a tribute to the birthplace of "sliding"). After a running start on spiked shoes, athletes race headfirst down the bobsleigh track at the Utah Olympic Park on a thin steel sled, steering by shifting their weight or lightly dragging a toe, their chins nearly scraping the icy surface. With international athletes eagerly awaiting their Winter Games debut, the skeleton will be one of the hottest events of 2002.
Men and women compete over two runs, with the competitor with the fastest aggregate time winning. The top 20 men and top 12 women from the first run qualify to make a second run, with the fastest going last. Racers steer by shifting their body weight or digging spikes attached to their boots into the ice track.
