Friday, February 8, 2002
All boned up for Salt Lake
By CAMERON MAXWELL -- Calgary Sun
As the sport of skeleton makes its Olympic return at Salt Lake City, Canada is poised to slide into a few medals.
No less than five Canadians will plummet head first down the Park City track in Utah on a small sled doing nearly 100 km/h in a sport where the Canucks are strong, even if few know who they are.
Calgary's Jeff Pain, Toronto's Duff Gibson and Pascal Richard, a native of Montreal, all qualified for the men's event, which goes on Feb. 20, as skeleton returns to the Olympic fold for the first time since 1948.
On the women's side, Calgary's Lindsay Alcock and Michelle Kelly of Fort St. John, B.C., both earned a trip to the Games, with Alcock using a third-place finish in the season-ending World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland, to gain a berth.
And Canada's best chance for gold and podium finishes will slide with Alcock, 24 and Kelly, 27.
Both won World Cup races over the season -- Alcock's victory coming in Calgary in front of a home-town crowd, while Kelly won in St. Moritz.
Alcock finished third in overall World Cup points, while Kelly was not far off in fifth and is looking to return to Park City where she holds the track record and says the competition has to catch her.
"They're going to have to come after me if they want that gold because I'm going to break that record,"said Kelly, who has also competed internationally in bobsleigh before getting into skeleton.
For her part, Alcock, a World Cup rookie, displayed the nerves of a seasoned veteran in St. Moritz, knowing she had to finish top six to make the Olympic team.
"I just dealt with the World Cup as if it was any other race and that's how things happen for you if you relax," said Alcock, who is going to try and treat the Olympic runs as if they were any other race.
"I want to stay as grounded as possible."
With the duo's performance to close out the World Cup circuit, Canada took the Nation's title, beating Germany and the U.S., which allowed both Alcock and Kelly to compete in Salt Lake.
Look for Great Britain's Alex Coomber and Switzerland's Maya Pedersen to challenge the Canadians for the medals.
As far as the men's competition goes, Gibson, 35, is fresh off a bronze medal in St. Moritz and finished sixth in World Cup rankings, while Pain was fourth overall. Richard was 17th.
For his part, Gibson is looking to repeat his podium finish in Salt Lake.
"I couldn't have asked for the season to end any better," said Gibson, adding his third-place result has given him the confidence he can compete with the world's best.
"Now a podium seems a little more tangible -- I've done it on a different track against the same people (who will be at Salt Lake), so it's hit home that it's really possible (to medal at the Games)."
Pain is looking forward to getting back onto a track he enjoys.
"It's suited to me. I think it's high speed and it's fast right from the start and very steep, which helps with my body weight," said Pain, who has two lifetime World Cup victories under his belt.
Pain's best result this year came in Konigssee, Germany, where he slid to a bronze. Gibson had his best runs in St. Moritz, which earned him a bronze. Switzerland is also where Richard, 29, had his best day, finishing eighth.
Standing between the Canadians and a podium finish are Switzerland's Gregor Stahli, Chris Soule of the U.S. and Austria's Martin Retl, who finished one-two-three in World Cup standings respectively.
Medals for Pain and Gibson are not out of the question as both have shown they can compete with the top three in the world.
2002 Games Skeleton Coverage
