|
 |
Not Jean, not Jen, but Jill
By Brady Snyder Deseret News Olympic specialist
UTAH OLYMPIC PARK — Some might say a teary-eyed Jean Racine received just deserts as she watched Park City resident Jill Bakken pilot USA 2 to a gold medal in record-setting fashion Tuesday.
The gold pushed the United States' medal haul so far at the 2002 Olympics to 21 — one more than the 20-medal projection made last year by the U.S. Olympic Committee. It also marked America's most golden day yet.
Meanwhile, Racine — formally the world's most famous female bobsledder — was outshined by Bakken and brakeman Vonetta Flowers, a former track and field coach at the University of Alabama Birmingham, who became the first black athlete from any country to win a winter Olympics gold medal.
"That's awesome," Flowers said. "Hopefully it will energize other African American girls and boys to give winter sports a try."
Bakken, the University of Utah student, drove flawlessly en route to gold in the Olympic debut of women's bobsled. She bested Racine's former track record in the first heat at 48.81 seconds and finished with a two-run total of 1 minute 37.76.
"There were tough times, but I never wanted to quit," Bakken said. "I knew I wanted to come to the Olympics, and here I am."
In winning, the pair ended the U.S. drought of 46 years without an Olympic bobsled medal.
Germany 1, piloted by Sandra Prokoff, had a substandard first run and finished second .3 seconds off the pace. And Germany 2, piloted by Susi-Lisa Erdmann was third, .53 behind.
Racine, teaming with hobbled brakeman Gea Johnson in USA 1, finished a disappointing fifth and had start times that were consistently .2 seconds off the pace.
Hampered by a hamstring she pulled during practice Saturday, Johnson was helped off the track after their second run limping and weeping.
"My hamstring's blown," she said.
Labeled "Mean Jean" by pundits, Racine dropped best-friend and former brakeman Jen Davidson three months before the 2002 Winter Games. She opted for Johnson, an ex-track and field star who Racine figured would produce faster starts.
The notion that Racine might have won gold if she had stuck with Davidson was lost on no one.
"It's so easy to say 'what if,' " Racine said. "I have no regrets. Once I make a decision, I go with it."
The switch was much ballyhooed since Racine and Davidson had posed for racy magazine spreads and had signed sponsorship deals with Visa and Kellogs, among others. Many said Racine chose a medal over friendship. But as her Olympic competition ended, Racine had neither, since Davidson had ended their amity long ago.
The new American bobsled queens have no endorsement deals, but they're listening.
"Feel free to call," Flowers said.
Added her pilot, Bakken: "At some point, that would be nice."
Bakken, who is nearsighted, didn't know she had won until well after crossing the finish. The crowd, 15,000 strong, erupted as she barreled down the track.
"I was nervous, but I'm always nervous," she said. "I'm nervous before practice runs. If I'm not nervous, I'm in trouble."
The golden duo made it a point to stay away from the circus surrounding the Racine-Davidson split.
"Jill and I tried to stay out of the soap opera," Flowers said. "Our goal was to come here and win a medal."
The Olympic disappointment did cap what can only be called a soap-opera year for Racine.
In May, her mother, Cathy, died of a kidney transplant failure. It had been Racine's dream to have her mother, who sold chocolate door-to-door in Michigan to help send her daughter to overseas competitions, at the 2002 Games.
In the past year Racine's grandmother also passed away, and her father was slapped with sexual abuse charges.
Still the Waterford, Mich., resident promised to return.
"I'm certainly going to be looking back on this for four years until the next Olympic Games," she said. "I don't know what I'll feel."
E-MAIL: bsnyder@desnews.com
|
|
February 20, 2002
|
