U.S. bobsledders like chances for bronze

By Tim Korte

Associated Press

PARK CITY, Utah – Sorry pardner, Del Rio, Texas, doesn’t have a bobsled track. And bobsled pilot Todd Hays can only remember it snowing once in his hometown along the Rio Grande.

“It was quite a celebration,” he said. “They shut school down, so we went out and played in the snow like we were in the Swiss Alps.”

Today, Hays will face the world’s best two-man bobsled teams – many of whom grew up in the real Alps – as he and brakeman Garrett Hines try to end America’s 46-year Olympic medal drought in the sport.

They were fifth after two runs Saturday, with two more to go today.

Hays wasn’t happy with his driving on the first run, blaming nerves. After he and Hines posted the second-fastest push-start on the first run, their start on the second run ranked sixth.

“We’re going to have to go back and regroup and try to rope someone in,” said Hays, saying he was optimistic about a possible bronze medal. “You can’t expect to medal in this competition without a good start and good driving.”

The United States seems to be grooming bobsledders in warm-weather climates. Hines is from Atlanta. And five-time Olympian Brian Shimer, the driver of USA 2, is from Naples, Fla. Shimer was in ninth after the first run Saturday.

The trend isn’t limited to bobsled. Speedskater Jennifer Rodriguez, from Miami, is among the contenders today in the 1,000 meters. Chris Witty will try to improve on her silver at the 1998 Nagano Games.

Both skaters have ties to summer sports. Rodriguez was an inline skater before switching over to the ice and Witty placed fifth in cycling’s 500-meter time trial at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

In ice dancing, Beata Handra and Charles Sinek join Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernychev in the original dance competition, worth 30 percent of each couple’s overall score.

Pairs are given a prescribed rhythm and must create an original dance. Lang and Tchernyshev, four-time national champions, were tied for 11th after the compulsories. Handra and Sinek were 20th.

“We know we’re as strong as the top five teams,” Lang said. “We have to wait our turn. It’s painful sometimes, but we are going to stick it out. We’re patient enough to wait for that moment.”

Caroline Lalive will try to recover from crashes in the downhill and the combined when she competes in the Super G, the final event of the Olympics on the twisting course at Snowbasin.

Picabo Street won’t compete. She didn’t qualify in the event where she won gold at Nagano.

The Americans are in position to win their first-ever medal in Nordic combined after placing third in Saturday’s team jumping. They’ll need to deliver today in the 20-kilometer cross-country skiing relay.

“We’re feeling like we’ve got a real good chance to do something special tomorrow,” said team leader Todd Lodwick. “I’ll be surprised if we’re not sliding for a medal tomorrow.”

Also on the schedule is the men’s 40-kilometer relay in cross-country skiing, and the American men’s curling team playing Finland.