Saturday, February 9, 2002
Kelly could be a hero at Games
By CHRIS STEVENSON -- SLAM! Sports
SALT LAKE CITY -- From the five-ring circus to the squared circle?
From Jacques Rogge to Vince McMahon?
That could be the leap for Canadian skeleton athlete Michelle Kelly, the effervescent 25-year-old from Calgary who obviously isn't afraid to dive headfirst into anything (skeleton is the sport like luge, except they go face first down the icy run).
Kelly, who holds the world record on the track at Utah Olympic Park in Park City, is one of the favourites on a very strong Canadian team to wind up on the podium Feb. 20.
That's her focus now, obviously.
But there have been times - and could be times - when she's not so focused on turns, but turnbuckles.
The 5-foot-5, 141-pound ex-gymnast, ex-bobsledder, has been recruited by the World Wrestling Federation to become a wrestler and potentially a star of a women's circuit.
"I could be 'Skeleton Girl,'" she said with a laugh when asked what her WWF persona could be. "Once the Olympics are over, I'm going to leave my options open. (Wrestling) has been fun for me. It's a great release."
Kelly was recruited by a former bobsleigh teammate who worked out at the same gym. The husband of a friend of hers is a wrestler and passed the word the
WWF was looking for women with athletic backgrounds.
They went to a tryout in the so-called "Dungeon" in the basement of the legendary Hart family, the first family of wrestling.
"At first I thought the idea was pretty cheesy," she said. "Wrestling? But I figured I would try it. I'm up for anything. It was kind of fun throwing some 200-pound guys around."
Given her background in gymnastics, she impressed the Harts with her ability to do backflips. She's been taken under the wing of Stu Hart, the patriarch of the clan.
"His stories are fantastic. Muhammad Ali has been in his place. (Hart) likes the art form of wrestling, not throwing the chairs and tables."Wrestling might have looked like even more of an option for Kelly after the start to her season since it looked like luck had her pinned for the three-count.
She struggled from the get-go, posting two sevenths and then two sixths in the first four World Cup events. Things went from bad to ridiculous in Lake Placid in December when she collided with a photographer at the start. This was not the way things were supposed to be going for three-time Canadian female skeleton athlete of the year (99-00-01) who was second overall in the World Cup in 2000.
"Christmas was the low point. I was getting down and starting to think maybe I was washed up," she said. "It's been a struggle. There's new equipment and I wasn't mentally prepared. I was very low. Everybody was expecting me to set the pace and blaze the trail this year."
She had to decide where she was going. Her mother and bobsledder Ken LeBlanc helped to get her back on track. Her mother got her back to thinking about why she was in the sport in the first place.
"Why am I doing it? Because I love it," she said. "The whole thing was to peak for February. Now I'm coming here and I'm back on track. Whether it's gold or fifth place it'll be the best I can do that day."
Canada has qualified the maximum number of skeleton athletes for these Games: five, three men and two women. Two or three medals are not out of the question.
Along with Kelly, Calgary's Lindsay Alcock, ranked third on the World Cup circuit, will compete on the women's side.
For the men, Toronto native Duff Gibson, now a fireman in Calgary, is ranked sixth in the World Cup standings; Jeff Pain of Calgary is ranked fourth and Laval, Que.'s Pascal Richard, an officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police based in Canmore, AB, is ranked 17th.
Her best on the Olympic track is the best. She was the only woman to go under 50 seconds in a pre-Olympic test event a year ago.
"I beat a few men that day," she said. "and that was good because it's been a real struggle (for the women) with the boy's club in Europe."
She should have just dropped a body slam on the them from the top rope.
2002 Games Skeleton Coverage
