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Medal-contender luger faces many obstacles
By Brady Snyder
Deseret News Olympic specialist
BEAR HOLLOW — Tom Wilczak, suffering from auto-immune hepatitis and needing a liver transplant, will be in Salt Lake to watch his daughter vie for an Olympic medal.
Women's luge competition begins today at Utah Olympic Park where Becky Wilczak, 21, Forest River, Ill., is America's best shot at a medal.
She will compete knowing her father could be whisked away at a moment's notice if a liver becomes available. The Salt Lake Organizing Committee has provided a private jet that is ready to take Tom Wilczak wherever he may need to go for a transplant.
"My family supported me throughout my luging career, and they're probably more excited than I am," Becky Wilczak said.
Her father's medical condition is just one of the obstacles Wilczak, currently ranked fifth in the world, will have to overcome if she is to become the first American slider to ever medal in singles competition.
Realistically Wilczak is competing for bronze. Barring an act of God, the gold and silver will be settled between Germany's Silke Kraushaar and Sylke Otto. Both women pronounce their name "silky," and the International Luge Federation (FIL) touts on its Web site that the competition's only suspense is whether the champion will spell her name with an "i" or a "y."
Both are smooth — like silk — and together they have combined to win 29 of the last 35 World Cups and world championships. Kraushaar is the reigning Olympic champion while Otto is the reigning world champion.
Still, the competition for bronze will be heated. Wilczak has a shot on her home track but will receive stiff challenges from Austria's Angelika Neuner and Germany's Barbara Niedernhuber, who will be looking to give her country a podium sweep.
The competition begins today at 4 p.m. with the final day of competition set for Wednesday at 4 p.m.
E-MAIL: bsnyder@desnews.com
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February 12, 2002
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