So close — 4th-place finish in Skeleton is still exciting for Orem native Noelle Pikus-Pace

WHISTLER, British Columbia — At first blush, it might seem like fate doesn't favor Noelle Pikus-Pace.

"That was so close," the Orem native said after a fourth-place finish in Friday night's skeleton competition at the Whistler Olympic Park. "I could never picture this moment any better than it is."

Then she took a few steps away from reporters, turned back toward the track and, just as the sun was setting, took a long look at her competitors. She watched them basking in the glory of winning medals, waving to a screaming crowd, and she smiled to herself.

This is what she came here to do. She came to represent her country. She came to compete. She came to cherish every single moment of an experience some people aren't lucky enough to even dream of having.

"I really do believe everything happens for a reason," said Pikus-Pace, who was grinning and laughing and hugging everyone as though she'd just won the competition herself. "This has been the best race of my life, really. It's just been incredible."

She didn't win anything, the way we measure success in sports. Great Britain's Amy Williams won with a time of 3:35.64. Germany's Kerstin Szymkowiak won silver with a combined time of 3:36.2, and her teammate Anja Huber over took Pikus-Pace on the final run to earn bronze with a time of 3:36.36.

It is difficult to understand the ease with which she accepts her situation, her fate.

She did not, after all, want to finish in the most heartbreaking position possible.

"I was fourth going into that last and final run, and I didn't want to finish there," Pikus-Pace said. "I knew I had to lay it all on the line. I let my sled fly a little bit more than I did, and I took a little bit of a risk trying to get there. But it was a risk worth taking. Unfortunately, it put me a tenth (of a second with a time of 3:36.46) out of the medals. But I'll take it."

She'll take this disappointment because, she, more than anyone, knows there are worst places to be.

A former softball player and track athlete, Pikus-Pace is at peace with the painful parts of sports. She credits her family, her friends and her faith as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with her ability to embrace whatever comes her way.

"My faith had everything to do with my recovery, with coming back to compete," said Pikus-Pace. "The prayers of everybody else around me, my family, friends. ... I really believe it helped me to recover so quickly.