Pikus-Pace's dreams of Olympics put on ice

KOENIGSSEE, Germany — Noelle Pikus-Pace entered this season as a legitimate favorite for an Olympic gold in skeleton. Now, she's not expected to compete in the Torino Games.

In another blow for the reeling U.S. skeleton program, the women's World Cup team had only one top-10 finisher in a race on Friday — meaning it will have only one sled entered in the Olympics next month.

Pikus-Pace, the defending overall World Cup champion, finished in fifth place, but that wasn't enough to vault the Americans into the top three spots in the overall team standings.

Only the top three women's teams — Canada, Germany and Switzerland — are being awarded two Olympic start positions.

So, barring something unforeseen, only Katie Uhlaender will represent the U.S. in Torino. She was 11th on Friday and has the most World Cup points of any American this season.

Friday's results add to a turbulent time for the U.S. skeleton team.

Coach Tim Nardiello is suspended because of sexual harassment accusations made against him in recent weeks. The U.S. Olympic Committee is investigating Nardiello's conduct.

The top American men's slider, Zach Lund, faces sanctioning because of a positive drug test earlier this season. His temporary suspension came Tuesday, when the U.S. contingent made final preparations for this weekend's races.

Pikus-Pace was the only American slider in contention Friday. Mellisa Hollingsworth-Richards of Canada won the race, followed by three German sliders. Then came Pikus-Pace, who missed the first half of the season with a broken leg after being hit by a bobsled in October.

"Noelle without a doubt stepped up to the plate and threw down today," U.S. interim coach Orvie Garrett said. "The coaching staff could not have been more excited for her to have such a great result as she continues to improve each week. We just ran into a very strong European field."

The U.S. had designs on placing four sliders in the top 10 spots, but Uhlaender was 11th, 2002 Olympic gold medalist Tristan Gale — whose mother is one of those who has filed the sexual harassment complaints against Nardiello — was 13th and Lyndsie Peterson was 15th.

The U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation is expected to formally announce its Olympic-team nominations Sunday or Monday.

Hollingsworth-Richards had a combined time of 1 minute, 39.96 seconds in the face-first sledding event on Friday. Anja Huber of Germany was second, 0.84 seconds slower. She was followed by two other Germans — Diana Sartor and Kerstin Juergens.

With her second victory of the season, Hollingsworth-Richards took the lead in the World Cup standings with 460 points. Maya Pedersen of Switzerland is second with 420 points after finishing eighth on Friday. Sartor is third with 310.