Breaks go bad for U.S. in skeleton
11:04 PM CST on Friday, February 17, 2006
CESANA, Italy – A favorite image of Salt Lake City or any Olympics, for that matter, was the reaction to Jim Shea's gold-medal run in skeleton: the other medalists running up the track, a delirious group that included Ireland's representative, who howled like a madman as he ran to hug the guy who knocked him off the medal stand. Fast forward four years: The U.S. skeleton coach is fired after sexual harassment allegations, the best medal hope among the women breaks her leg and the men's champion is expelled for something sinister in his hair potion. How bad did it get? A national columnist piled on last month, calling skeleton "as Olympian as dwarf tossing." Hey, Jim Shea: What's happened to your feel-good story? "This is a test," he said, "of our program." And Friday's grade wasn't good. Eric Bernotas' sixth-place finish led the three-man team, followed by Dallas' Kevin Ellis in 17th place and Chris Soule 25th. Out of 27. "Heartbroken," is how Shea described himself. At least he's got his medal. His memories, too: bear-hugging friends, high-fiving strangers, diving over the retaining wall into a sea of fans that nearly refused to throw him back. What do these guys have to show four years later? Ellis, a 32-year-old accountant, put his life on hold for this. Hurt his career, probably. Only worked three months in the last year. He's been so dedicated to this opportunity, he's not even sure what all he's missed. "I've kinda been consumed by it," he said, softly. Soule wasn't even supposed to be here. He didn't find out he was on the team until last week, when Zach Lund's last appeal was denied. When did you get here, Chris? "Saturday?" he said, turning to a U.S. official. "Yes. Saturday." He made exactly six training runs, and he was lucky to get that many in. "I haven't had time to do anything other than nap or eat," he said. "I'm about like a dog." Bernotas could have used some sleep. He's had a cold all week, but he didn't use it as an excuse. A miscalculation on Turn 3 probably meant the difference between sixth and a medal. "I just made one mistake," he said, shrugging, "and it cost me big." None of the men blamed anything or anyone. Even Shea wouldn't give them an out, despite all that's happened the last six months. "Nothing to do with it," he said. "This is a race. On race day, anything can happen." He knows first-hand just how glorious it can be. But the aura around his golden run in 2002 was far different from this one. Shea's grandfather, Jack, the oldest living Olympian, a gold-medal winner himself 70 years earlier, died two weeks before his grandson's run, the victim of a drunk driver. Jim Shea's sentimental story was so irresistible, even competitors were pulling for him. Question: Who was pulling for these guys? Not the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The high court heard Lund's last appeal and decided he wasn't trying to cheat with his hair potion, which contained an ingredient sometimes used as a masking agent. But he was ruled ineligible anyway. And how do you lose your coach, Tim Nardiello, only weeks before the Games and expect it not to have an effect? Remove a coach in any sport and see what happens. Skeleton's a sport, too, no matter how much its critics carp. You get on a "glorified lunch tray" as Rick Reilly called it in his Sports Illustrated column last month, and hurdle 80 mph down an ice track on your nose with only your feet and knees for steering out of disaster. Did you get that issue of SI, Kevin? "I didn't, but I heard about it," he said, smiling. "We all just kinda giggled about it." They talked about contacting Reilly, putting him on a tray and giving a shove, but that's as far as it got. Probably just as well. They've had enough publicity lately, none of it good. And here's the funny part: None of them seem bitter. To a man, they described their experience as "tremendous." Despite everything that happened, they stuck together and stuck it out. Bottom line: Was it worth it, Kevin? "It's all justified," he said. "I wouldn't give anything for it." E-mail ksherrington@dallasnews.com 