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Show Bll The Salt Lake Tribune WINTER SPORTS Sunday, January 24, 1999 Czechs Outrun USA I In America’s Cup Bobsled Competition BYKNOWLES Wharton Time Keeping Is Criticalin Skiing Events ‘Ted Savage will be one of the most important people you never have heard of when the World Alpine Ski Championships open Satur- day at Vail, Colo. tired of Olympics scandals had a chance to see what the Winter Gamesareall aboutat the Ameri- ca’s Cup men’s bobsled race Saturday. While top-level World Cup wars rage on in Europe, the Bteam — and Third World-country racers — hit the bobsled track at Rick Egen/The Salt Lake Tribune Skiing against Alberto Tomba, left, was chanceofa lifetime for Park City's Elisha Stephens. Tomba Lives Up to His Legendary Status Savageis a timing engineer for Tag Heuer, a Swiss BY TOM WHARTON THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE such events as World Cup skiing, Formula 1 auto racing and the America’s Cup. In addition to giving an official time to one-hundredth of a second in a sport where DEER VALLEY — Nineteen-year-old Park City Ski Team member Rob Gushiken seemed awestruck moments afterfinishing a few feet behindItalian ski legend Alberto Tombaon Saturday. “That was the dream of lifetime,” said Gushiken that margin can often determinefirst and second place, Savage's crew can set up as many as eight interval timing points. That helps skiers and their coaches determine strengths for a second run. Savage said his equipment can break timing down to 1/250,000th of one second. Variables such as sun, wind and temperature make each ski race unique andinterest- ing. Timers try to be the one constant. “Wehave hada lot of things happen in the 15 years Ihave been involved,” he said. “Disasters can befall us in the same sense as they can an organizing committee.” Savage has seen powerfailures, An avalanche knocked out the timing building at one race. Wind blew away the start building in New Zealand after winning the right to race the 50-time World Cup winnerandfive-time Olympic medal winner in the finals of thefirst day of the Tomba Tour. “I am on top of the world right now.I had a bad start and hehada goodstart. He wasin front of me the whole way. Up at the start gate, he wastryingto intimidate me. But I already was intimidated. He didn’t have to do anything. He was real loose and I was kind of tense.” Tombafinished the first of his four final races Saturday with a flourish, spraying spectators with snow. Heeasily won four head-to-head races with the junior and senior winnersoftheinitial stop on his five-city tour designed to benefit charities. Thebeneficiaries of the Park City event were the Park City Ski Education Foundation, Camp Hobie for juvenile cancer patients and Camp UTADAfor juveniles with diabetes. The team championship event, where Tombaraces again, is scheduled today at 2 p.m. near DeerValley's Silver Lake Lodge. It is free for spectators. BY BRETT PRETTYMAN ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE a US.slider Jim Shea of Lake Placid, N.Y., captured a first-place finish last weekend at a World Cup skeleton race in Altenberg, Germany. If skeleton racing is admitted into the 2002 Olympics, Shea probably will qualify for the US. team and be a medal contender. Shea, the son and grandson of former Olympians, is among thestrongest “pushers” in the sport, rou- tinely clocking the fastest Start times in international meets. Another strong finish- er in Altenberg was Tristan Gale, an 18-year-old Salt Lake City woman competing in herfirst World Cup race. She captured seventh with a combined time of 2:11.7, two places ahead of ParkCity’s Babs Isak (2:13.08). Another ParkCity slider, Lincoln Dewitt, finished 14th in the men’s race in 2:03.19. o Short Track Hockey's road to gold in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City begins this year when seeds for the men’s and women's tournaments will be decided. As the host country, the United States gets an automatic berth in the Olympics. However, the play- ers who decide the seeds are not necessarily those who will compete for the medals in 2002, especially on the men’s side. Thatis becauseofficials still are not certain whether National Hockey Leagueprofessionalswill particiate. After a disappointing showing in the 1998 Nagano Winter Games, the National Hockey Leagueisstill debating whether to allow its athletes to participate in 2002. But it has nothing to do with the USA’s early exit from the Gamesin '98 or Canada’sfailure to win a medal. Thedecision hinges on whether the NHL believes the Olympic television exposure is worth shutting down the league for 12 days, risking injury to its star players and forcing an already long sea- Many of North America’s top short track speed skaters will be in Provo on Saturday and Jan. 31 at The Peaks Ice Arena. Twenty-six of the top short track speed skaters from the United States and son to go even longer. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was not happy that CBS showed no games from Nagano on networktelevision during prime time. “There is a potential for three U.S. gamesin prime time, and be- Canadawill compete in men’s and women's 500 meters, ing on cable isn't a satisfactory outlet for us,” Bettman said dur- 1,500 meters and relays on Saturday and men’s and ing the NHL's board of governors meetings in December. “I'm not urday and 1 p.m. Jan 31. way. All I'm saying is that if we are goingto stop the season for 12 days, we have to be reasonably women’s 500 meters, 1,000 meters and relays on Jan 31. Racing begins at 2 p.m. Sat- Mostof these teams and athletes lack sponsors or the backing of their own countries and pay their own way. For starving bobsled artist Travis Bell, it all was worth it. Ranked fifth on the national Ted Simons, presidentof the Park City Ski Education Fund, said over 200 skiers paid $20 to earn the chanceto race against Tomba. Twosenior skiers and two juniors earned a chanceto race against the legend, who never was seriously threatened. Another 14 teamspaid $5,000 each to compete Sunday. “Tomba brings so muchto the table that a normal personality doesn’t,” said Simons. Seventeen-year-old Elisha Stephens of Park City wonthe senior ladies event. Shecalled the race the chanceofa lifetime. “T never thought I would get to race against him,” shesaid. “I totally luckedintoit. He kind of let me do OKso I didn’t do too bad.” Justin Simons, the 15-year-old winnerof the junior men’s race, said “I could have gotten him” with a laugh. Krista Brandel, 15, the junior girls’ winner, found racing against a world championexciting and said Tombawasa ‘nice fellow.” For his part, Tomba seemed to enjoy the rather low-key event which allowed him to enjoy some rare quiet moments. Heis as well-known in Italy as Mi- chael Jordanis in the United States and often finds himself mobbed. “It's good for children,” he said. “They love me. They follow me everywhere. It is great for them. For me, also. And maybe for my son some day. Saturday, and he drovelikeit. He and veteran brakeman Will Stolpe stole the silver medal and are gunning for gold today. “This is his first international race and he drovethe heck out of it, drove it like a champion,” said Stolpe. “You can’t force it [driving]; you have to relax andlet it come, andhe did.” “It gives me great hope, to come this far in only one year,” Bell said. ‘‘We crushed people on thestart.” Bell, like manyat this level, is chasing sponsors not for new sleds, but for groceries. That was one reason the win- ners seemed out of place at this competition. The Czechoslova- kian duoof Jiri Dzmura and Pavel Polomsky was beaten badly by USA I on the pushstart but found a tight line downthe course to fin- ish with a two-heattimeof 1:41.37 over the American’s 1:41.61. Dzmura is a well-known and well-funded Olympic veteran (10th at Nagano in '98) with a $30,000 sled. He opted for this looking to threaten NBC in any comfortable that we will get the type of coverage that would make that type of stoppage worthwhile.” The NHLwill wait until it gets confirmation from NBC about hockey coverage before committing to or rejecting the 2002 Games. “In the absence of such assur- ances, I would be extremely skeptical of our willingness to shut down and go to the Olympics,” said Bettman. “The sentiment of the board was that if we can get everything buttoned down, it would makesense to go.”” That leaves USA Hockeyofficials in limbo. Asthe official rep- World Championships, May 1-16 in Norway. That tournament will determine seeds for 2002. “Of course, we won't be able to get all of the best NHL players, because they will still be in the playoffs, but we will ask the best players available, because their team didn't make the playoffs or we eliminated early,” said Seiel. Seeding for the women’s hockey tournament in 2002 comes un- der a World Championship format, mostlikely in the 2001 event. After winning the first gold medal in women's hockey, the U.S. team is sure to be a favorite in Salt Lake City, but the level of compe- tition continuesto rise within and outside of North America. Women’s hockey is growing fast. Since the 1990-91 season, when USA Hockey began counting female participation, there has been a 430 percent increase. In Salt Lake City, the largest crowd to watch a women’s hockey gamein the United States attend- ed the Challenge Cup on Oct. 25, 1997, as 7,704 watched the United States skate to a shootout win over Canada. The women from the gold med- al team in Naganohavegonetheir own ways for the most part, but took fifth in the USA II sled (1:43.86) with strong push times. While Canada and the United States sent their B-teams, the majority of racers were from coun- tries that do not have a World Cup-caliber team at all. Australia, Armenia, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Somoa and Brazil all showedup,along with Mexico. They are here to earn enough qualifying points to gain entry into the Olympics. Henry Sherlock, who pushed Jamaica I to eighth place behind original team driver Dudley Stokes, touched ice for thefirst time. The Jamaicans used the event to initiate talented recruits on the 2002 track, says Stokes. “It is a track that puts athletes {pushstarts] and equipment over driving,” says Stokes. The Brazilian team struggled with a messyloading in thefirst heat, but was thrilled to be here and hope to somedayreturn. “All this scandal, for us younger teams, it makesit real hard to get sponsorship. But it is a childhood dream to be an Olympian,” said Brazil I driver Eric Maleson. USA III rookie Joe Sisson showed uplate and wasdisqualified. Canada I had a surprise crash but Canada II took the bronze (1:43.53). The Mexican team was disqualified for coming in over the weightlimit. Races continuetodayat 3 p.m., and next weekend, the four-man America’s Cup happens at the Sports Park. CUP RESULTS 1, Jiri Demura-Pavel Polomsky, Cuechoslovakia |, 141.37. 2 ‘Travis Bell: Will Solpe, USA 1, 14161. 3, Keri GrabamJason Krause, Canada Ul, 143.59. 4, Jason Giobb-Andrew Moles, ‘Australia 1, 14354. 8, Joe McDonal-Matt Vieory, USA If (14386), severaltraveled with the team to the Three Nations Cup in Finland in December. Team USAfinished second with a 2-2 record — both losses came to Canada in one-goal games and both wins cameagainst Finland in one-goal games. The tournament featured the three medal-winning teams from Na- gano: USA(gold), Canada(silver) and Finland (bronze). The 1999 World Women's Championship is March to 14 in Finland. Among the new members of the team is 15-year-old Natalie Darwitz of Eagan, Minn. She is the youngest player named to a U.S. National team. resentative to the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC)and the International Ice Hockey Federation Panasonic (IIHF), USA Hockeyis responsible for organizing and training men’s and women’s teamsfor international tournaments. Thatin- Digital Television Available Now! cludes the ITHF World Championships and the Olympic Winter The Panasonic PT-56WFX90 TVis a 56" (measured Games. diagonally) projection TV that incorporatesall of DIVs “We have indicated to them that we would prefer to know advantages info one complete package. Capable of displaying HD and SD signals with an optional decoder and with built-in 5 speaker suround sound, there is no better way to experience the DIV revolution. their intention in the next few months,” said Darryl Seibel, director of public relations for USA Hockey, “We need an appropriate amountof time to develop a 56" \descreenDIV compatible HOIV ADIV Display Capabilty (480p) - and 1080i)" plan and begin to executeit for Salt Lake City. The Olympic Games are about having the best 3D YC Digital Combfitter athletesin the world and the NHL. allowed us to have that in Na- ComponentVideo Input Bull -in Progressive Scan Converter Velocity Modulated Scan If the NHL decides not to participate in the Salt Lake City Olympics, USA Hockey will revert to its former system of recruiting the best college and minor league players available. 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