Tuesday, February 12, 2002
Here we groan again
As in the past, great medal expectations tarnished as Canada's fortunes fall hard
By STEVE SIMMONS -- Toronto Sun
PARK CITY, Utah -- At almost the same moment Jeremy Wotherspoon fell, a snowboarder named Mike Michalchuk lost his balance and crashed to the snow, rear-end first.
One Olympic medal gone on the fast ice of the Utah Olympic Oval.
And less than a mile away, another kissed goodbye beneath the blazing sun at the Park City Mountain Resort.
Two events seemingly unrelated. One sport relevant and oh, so Olympian just minutes down the road. The other sport made-for-TV mush with music blaring loudly. Two Canadian medal hopes gone awry.
Two of the very medals the Canadian Olympic Association was counting on for what it still hopes will be a "best-ever" Olympic Games.
Somehow, this happens too often at the Olympics, these Canadian coincidences of misfortune and failure. One athlete down, and then another, and another.
An unexplainable domino effect of sporting pain.
For Canadians in past Games it has affected performance, life in the village and how athletes approach their events. It has altered the pressure metre. It has chipped away at confidence. And suddenly, the expected becomes the unexpected, the predictable becomes completely unpredictable.
When a Jeremy Wotherspoon goes down after four strides in something that almost is second nature to him, you can't help but wonder. The way you would wonder if you happened to be in attendance at the Park City Mountain Resort and watched the highly regarded Canadian half-pipe team crash to the snow, one by one.
Or in the words of ninth-place finisher, Trevor Andrew of Nova Scotia, "we sketched out."
He sketched out. They sketched out. Wotherspoon sketched out. It was that kind of afternoon in Utah.
A few days ago, a question was asked to a high-placed member of the COA about the medal chances of flag-bearer Catriona Le May Doan in her specialty, the 500 metres. The response now seems terribly Canadian and horribly timed. The response was: "The only way she won't get a medal is if she falls."
Sadly, the COA voice could have been talking about Wotherspoon, who won the 500 metres at the world sprint championships and earlier in World Cup races in Herrenveen and Calgary.
And down the road, it wasn't just Mike Michalchuk tapping out on what was otherwise a perfect afternoon beneath the Utah sun. A favourite to make the podium, he didn't even qualify for the final.
So, too, were his highly regarded teammates. Daniel Migneault, a World Cup winner not long ago, ended up in 26th place, one spot ahead of Michalchuk. Brett Carpentier, another Canadian of alleged promise, finished 22nd. Medals were a rumour to them.
"I was saving it all for the end," said Michalchuk, who some were predicting would win gold. "I just ran out of end."
Yesterday was one of those days in which you wished Canadian athletes had some of that same verve for competition that Americans seem to live for. The Americans and Canadians were considered just about the same in the half-pipe competition. Both teams were deep. Both teams were strong. Both teams thought multiple medals were possible.
It happened for the Americans, who finished 1-2-3 at snowboarding, the first Winter Olympic sweep since 1956. The only Canadian to so much as qualify for the final was a late addition to the team. Andrew, who just got here Saturday and is leaving tomorrow, finished ninth in the 34-man field.
He, too, expected Michalchuk to win.
The same way Wotherspoon was expected to advance to today's 500-metre final in medal contention.
"I'm tired," Michalchuk said, hardly exhibiting the Olympic spirit. "I just want to go home."
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