2006 Turin Winter Olympics Blog

Diana Sartor, of Germany, came in fourth in the skeleton, but she was just glad she had safe runs. After the competition was over, she revealed that she was 9 weeks pregnant. She found out 5 weeks before the Olympics. Her coaches were unaware. There is some disagreement about whether her doctors approved.

For the record, skeleton is not on the list of recommended prenatal activities.

The highest American competitor finished in only sixth, but I’m still really excited. Canada’s Duff Gibson won the gold! For those of you who don’t know, Duff Gibson is a firefighter in Canada. He went through several sports looking for one where he could represent his country in the Olympics. He is an Olympian at heart. Duff was joined by fellow Canadian Jeff Pain, who won the bronze, and bronze medal winner Gregor Staehli, of Switzerland.

Women’s skeleton

Gold Maya Pedersen Switzerland
Silver Shelley Rudman Great Britain
Gold Mellisa Honllingsworth-Richards Canada

Maya Pedersen sat out a couple of seasons after she had a baby. She wasn’t sure she was going to come back at all. I’m bet she’s glad she did.

In a sad turn of events, Zach Lund, America’s best chance for a skeleton medal has received a one year suspension from the World Anti-Doping Agency. This will prevent Lund from competing in the Olympics. Lund received a public warning from the US Anti-Doping Agency, but was still allowed to compete in the Olympics, following a positive test for finasteride – a banned substance often used as a steroid-masking agent – at a World Cup race in November. The World Anti-Doping Agency wanted stronger penalties for Lund’s positive test and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Lund had admitted to using an anti-baldness medication, which contains finasteride, but until 2005, it was not on the banned list. Lund failed to check the 2005 list when it was posted and so did not know that the status had changed.

The World Anti-Doping Agency had asked that Lund be banned for two years but the Court of Arbitration for Sport chose to give him a one-year suspension – the minimum for drugs offences.

“The panel has declared that it was entirely satisfied that Mr Lund was not a cheat,” CAS said in a statement. “He regularly checked the prohibited list in the past years but, unfortunately, in 2005, he made a mistake and failed to do so.”

The U.S. will still have three sliders competing in the men’s skeleton event on Feb. 17. Eric Bernotas and Kevin Ellis will now be joined by Chris Soule, who was seventh at the Salt Lake Olympics four years ago. Soule will be traveling in from Lake Placid, N.Y.

Tim Nardiello will not be coaching the U.S. skeleton team at the Turin Olympics. Just this morning, we wrote that an arbitrator had overturned Nardiello’w suspension, citing a lack of evidence. However, the U.S. Olympic Committee has said that they are not going to credential him because they feel that he has shown inappropriate judgement and violated ethical codes.

After failing a drug test, Zach Lund has received only a warning and is, therefore, eligible to compete in the Turin Olympics. Lund has taken hair-restoration products since 1999 and has always declared them on medical forms filled out for competition. After testing positive, he is no longer taking Proscar, the pill he was using at the time of the positive drug test, and is even avoiding multivitamins and other over-the-counter products, just to be safe.

In other skeleton news, suspended U.S. skeleton coach Tim Nardiello is expected to learn later today the outcome of an arbitration hearing he and the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation went to in Albany, N.Y. last week. The ruling would determine whether the USBSF was justified in suspending Nardiello, who was accused of sexually harassing two members of his team.

No, it’s not the answer to a question on your anatomy quiz. Well, at least in this post it’s not. Skeleton is the least known Olympic sport probably because it’s only been in three Olympics. That’s right. Before the 2002 Olympics, the last time skeleton was in the Olympics was 1948.

But what exactly is skeleton? Skeleton is an individual sledding event where the athlete (known as a slider) goes down a mountain track on a small, stripped down sled. In some places, it is called tobogganing. A skeleton rider reaches up to 80 miles per hour. And, on a skeleton, there are no brakes. That’s right, skeleton involves going down a mountain at 80 mph, head first, with no brakes. Yikes. I have a three year old daredevil, and this sounds like it would be right up his alley. Good thing we live nowhere near mountains or snow.

For more on the skeleton, including some pictures and info on how you, too, can try skeleton, visit this website of a recreational skelton slider.

U.S. skeleton coach Tim Nardiello lost an appeal Tuesday that would have allowed him to join his Olympics-bound team at a World Cup competition this weekend in Germany. Nardiello, who has been on paid administrative leave since Dec. 31 after two sexual-harassment complaints were made against him, is expected to continue appealing in hopes of coaching the U.S. team at the Winter Olympics next month in Turin, Italy. The U.S. Olympic Committee will have the final say on whether Nardiello joins the team.

In other news, Zach Lund, America’s best hope for a medal in skeleton, has been suspended by the International Bobsleigh and Tobogganing Federation (FIBT) after he tested positive for an anti-baldness drug, which may mask performance-enhancing drugs, at a World Cup event last month.

Presumably, he just has problems with male-pattern baldness. Poor guy, not only does he have to face being thrown out of the sport he loves, but he also has to have his private concern over hair loss paraded in front of the world.

Canadian Duff Gibson will represent Canada in the Olympics for the second time when he competes in the skeleton in Turin in February. He also represented Canada in the skeleton in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. But when he’s not sliding headfirst down an icy mountain, he’s fighting fires. You see, Duff Gibson is a firefighter.

He’s also a very determined man. Gibson went through dozens of sports before settling on skeleton. His goal was always to represent his country in the Olympics.

In the 2002 Olympics, he came in 10th. This was not enough for him. He really wants a medal. So, next month he’ll be back in Turin, Italy, sliding down a hill on a small sled. You can read more about Duff here.

The U.S. Olympic skeleton team coach has been placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment. 2002 Olympic gold medalist Tristan Gale and Felicia Canfield claim coach Tim Nardiello has made sexual advances and explicit comments toward female racers. Neither athlete will be competing in the Turin Winter Olympics. The four men and four women who are Olympic-team candidates have expressed support of Nardiello.

It seems like odd timing to me to bring this up. Why not a month ago? Why not a year ago? The allegations say this has been going on for years. One can’t help but wonder whether the allegations would have been made now if the women were headed for Turin. Whatever the truth, hopefully it will be resolved soon so that it doesn’t mar the team’s chances in the Olympics.