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Show Alo _The Salt akeTribune URAH/NATION Sunday, January = Olympic Hopeful’s Dreams Shattered In Freak Accident rushing. Last month a special issue of from each state. Bell, the strapping bobsledder from the tiny : = — “T recall the rigger saying that he had done this several times, that he was the riggerfor the ‘Cool Runnings’ movie and he had done commercials.” town of Centennial, was ranked 24th in his home state. lows handfuls of prescription painkillers to cope. Bell's neurol- ogists say he will live with epilepsy from now on. On Nov. 24, Bell filed a civil lawsuit in Los Angeles County against General Motors (parent corporation of Cadillac), HSI Pro- ductions of New York and HSI Entertainment of Venice, Calif. He seeks damages againstthe auto giant and the two companies involved in producing the television commercial. Representatives for GM and HSI have declined comment and haveyetto file their responses to Bell's lawsuit. Like his sled, Bell’s Olympic dreams were smashed.All in less than a minute.Forhisefforts, Bell took home$250. A Beautiful Morning: Travis Bell seemed born to drive a bobsled. A wild horse rider who grew upat10,000 feet in a house built by oneof Buffalo Bill’s sidekicks, he broke his Wyoming high school’s football record for single-game Bobsied Program Manager Bell: “Won gold medal in four-man bobsled at 1999 America’s Cup; won silver in two-man; first rookie to place in top 10 at world snowmobiling championships.” The magazine is actually incorrect; he won four gold medals in four-man and four silver medals in two-man, all in his rookie 1998-99 season. He had come outof nowhere to secure a spot on the national bobsled team in his rookie year as the No. 5 driver, bypassing the usual move-up-the- ranks ladder. The former Univer- sity of Wyoming Cowboys’ outside linebacker weighed 230 pounds and could bench-press 440. Mostofall, he could drive. He was already a top professional snowmobiler, among the world’s best at steering small machines at crazyspeeds. Two years ago, he bought a $30,000 bobsled and three sets of runners, quit his job as a consult- ant to a Denver law firm and moved to Salt Laketo train for the — Olympics. Three U.S. drivers will competein 2002. Bell won't. His bobsled is for sale. The Crash: On Jan. 19, 1999, there had been no Olympicfervor, no medals, no tense international competition. In the world of Winter Olympics, the day meant nothing. Still, Bell was excited when he arrived at the 2002 bobsled track. filming a commercial for United out. Bell fought the machine all the more experienced driver, ulti mately made the commercial. Olympic bobsled track two years way to turn 11, a sweeping left turn on the Olympic track that a nearby hospital, McDonald took Parcel Service on the Calgary earlier, the crew said. “If they've used it before, we should be OK,” Bell recalls telling McDonald. Says McDonald: “They told me and Travis they did the same commercial in Calgary, rigged with the camera the same way, rattles bobsleds with heavy vibrations. Chunks of the camera were hitting him. Finally, the whole contraption flew off and struck Bell in the E Atfirst, that was relief. “I thought ‘great,’ we might While Bell rode in an ambulance to his run. This time, though, the camera was mounted on the rear of the sled. He tooka series oferror-laden trips down the track. But McDonald madeit, and GM ultimately got its commercial. It aired He and veteran driver Joe Mc- waiver before climbing into his have a chance to makeit without the weight of the camera,” Bell said. He was wrong. Hehit turn 12 at Donald were skeptical when they first saw the bulky, awkward sled. He took his push-start. As turn one came up, Bell's doubts roughly 80 miles per hour. The entire contraption crumpled for- took hold. By turn four the camera was ward from the pressure, folding under the front of the sled and Cusinato, said she could not commenton the case because GM had just received the lawsuit and as- slamming intothe track and flying popping thenose upin theair. “It was like having a rifle aimed at you and watching someone slowly pull the trigger,” Bell Winograd, HSI Productions’ general counselandchieffinancial officer, declined comment. He was making a commercial for Cadillac and was eagertoflex his with no problems, and they said they took manytrips.” muscles for Olympic sponsor GM. Bell says he did not sign a movie camera-contraption the film crew hadbuilt onto the nose ofthe bobsleds. The nose is a sensitive area on a bobsled, subject to tremendous g-force. Bell and McDonald say crew members repeatedly assured them the contraption had been apart. Each turn camefaster than the last. There wasno getting off. There is no way to stop a bobsled. The used safely manytimesbefore. It simple pull-handle brake will flip was used in the filming of the popular movie “Cool Runnings.” the sled if used anywhere but in the snowyuphill stopping zone at said. His head was too high.It caught the full brunt of the impactas the sled smashed into the overhanging lip of turn 14. His helmeted heavily on television last spring and summer. A spokeswoman for General Motors’ legal department, Kelly signed an attorney. Randy In Calgary, where a similar commercial had been filmed for UPS, bobsled track manager Greg Stremlaw said he approved See Next Page FREEDOM from1 Glasses 2 Contacts? If you're near orfar-sighted, the physicians at the Moran Vision Center may improve yourvision without corrective lenses. Doctors Majid Moshirfar, M.D., Maureen K. Lundergan, M.D., Mark D. Mifflin, M.D. and JohnB.Fassio, M.D.are part of the University of Utah's Health Science Center. Theyoffer a full array of procedures including Lasik Laser and Intacs, the revolutionary cornea ring implants. One year after the procedure, 92% of Moran Vision Centerpatients’ corrected vision was 20/40 or better. a a4 T° PORTISTA ORIENTAL RUGS UP TO still be seen at turn 14. Safer in Calgary: Joe Mc Donald, another Olympic — Bell's partner on the track The same equipment was used in onthe team, just one slot from the havebeen the No.4 bobsled driver Wood splinters and ragged scraps of film were imbedded in the foam lining of his helmet. The gouge in the overhang can flying. At turn six the film flew ice ‘wham-wham-wham.’ Pieces of the camera started Olympics. This racing season, he would AIR DUCT CLEANING te) Ng support platform. There was so much torque on the camera it whipped the nose of the sled (which can rotate separately from the body) over on its side. The camera was smacking against the Patrick Brown The S/ story briefly describes @ Continued from A-1 head was caught between the sled and the track. 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