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More switches for women bobsledders
By Joe Bauman
Deseret News staff writer
Another switch was announced Friday in the suddenly volatile world of women's bobsled racing, beyond the bombshell news that Jean Racine and Jen Davidson were splitting up.
Racine (Waterford, Mich.) and Davidson (Layton) have been the top women bobsledders in the world and the sport's most famous athletes. They won the World Cup in the 1999-2000 and the 2000-01 seasons and traveled to the White House in November to help present an Olympic blazer to President Bush.
Racine's new teammate is Gea Johnson (Phoenix), who had been brakeman for Bonny Warner of Discovery Bay, Calif. Warner has not announced a replacement, but her publicist said it is possible it will be Davidson.
The second surprise was that Jill Bakken (Park City) is changing brakemen also. Bakken, sixth in World Cup points, had teamed with Shauna Rohbock (Orem) although in one race her brakeman was Bethany Hart of North Grafton, Mass.
Now Bakken's brakeman will be Vonetta Flowers (Birmingham, Ala.) said Julie Urbansky of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, based in Lake Placid, N.Y. Last season, Warner and Flowers were teamed.
Urbansky added that the U.S. women's bobsled coach, Tuffy Latour, commended the athletes on their maturity in a tough situation. Pilots and their partners "have been trying to get the best combination together in order to produce the best results possible," he said, according to Urbansky.
"This decision is the hardest one that an athlete can make," said Matt Roy, executive director of the federation. His comments were relayed by Urbansky by e-mail.
"They have all set aside personal friendships to realize the overall goal, to represent their country to the best of their ability and bring bobsledding success for the U.S. at the Winter Olympic Games in February."
The women are now headed to Utah for the Verizon Championship Series, Dec. 21-22 at the Utah OIympic Park.
According to a notice on the the federation's Internet site, "The Verizon Championship Series, combined with World Cup results, will be used to determine . . . who will represent the U.S. in February of 2002."
E-mail: bau@desnews.com
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December 16, 2001
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