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U.S. men's bobsled hopes are dimming
American sleds come in 5th and 9th on first of 2 days of racing
By Joe Bauman Deseret News Olympic specialist
UTAH OLYMPIC PARK — America's hopes of ending a 46-year drought in bobsled medals dimmed Saturday, as U.S. sleds came in fifth and ninth on the first of two days of Olympic racing.
Athletes from the Alps dominated the two-man bobsled competition, with Swiss and German sleds taking the first three positions and a Canadian coming in fourth.
Todd Hays of Del Rio, Texas, finished in a disappointing fifth place, nearly a third of a second off the sizzling pace set by Christian Reich, Switzerland.
Hays recently lost his favorite brakeman (Pavle Jovanovic, Toms River, N.J.), who was suspended after he tested positive for traces of a steroid. Hays' new brakeman is Garrett Hines, Atlanta.
Olympics officials placed the crowd at just under 14,000, although 15,500 tickets were sold.
Spectators lined the curves of the nearly mile-long bobsled/luge/skeleton track, at times looking like a colorful mosh pit with flags representing many countries. Adding to the festive air were jester hats, flags with red hearts and huge green derbies bedecked with shamrocks.
But there was little joy in the U.S. camp, with supporters pinning their hopes on doing better Sunday when sleds are to make two more runs, with the winner determined by the lowest overall time in the four runs.
After the first two runs, the results were:
Reich and Steve Anderhub, Switzerland, were first with a combined time of 1:35.05. Reich is a three-time Olympian, coming in fourth in two-man bobsled at the 1998 Nagano Games.
Christoph Langen and Markus Zimmermann, Germany, were second. Langen is the most decorated athlete competing Saturday, with three Olympic medals (two golds, one bronze).
Martin Annen and Beat Hefti, Switzerland, were third, and Pierre Lueders and Guilio Zardo, Canada, fourth.
"First run I didn't drive real well, and the track was kind of soft," Hays said. "My rhythm wasn't there on the first one. The second one, our start wasn't there."
"That's unacceptable," he added. "We can't win a bobsled race like that. So we're going to have to go back and regroup" for the second half of the race Sunday afternoon.
Weather may well make the difference on Sunday, as meteorologists with the Winter Games Weather Support Group were predicting an increased chance of snow Sunday evening.
The other U.S. sled, piloted by five-time Olympian Brian Shimer (Naples, Fla.) with Darrin Steele (Sherrard, Ill.) finished Saturday in ninth place, at 1:35.91.
But Shimer remained upbeat.
"Anything can happen," he said. He noted that so far, he was one place ahead of where he was at Nagano.
E-MAIL: bau@desnews.com
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February 17, 2002
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