Jay Rand, the former Olympian who manages the Lake Placid, N.Y., ski jump complex used for the 1980 Winter Games, won't be coming to Utah after all to manage a similar facility scheduled to open this fall near Park City.
"He got cold feet," said Utah Sports Authority Chairman Randy Dryer. "I don't think it reflects very well on him to accept the job and then change his mind. But it will not affect our program at all."Rand is from Lake Placid and serves on the town council there, Dryer said, making it difficult for him to leave as manager of the Intervale MacKenzie Olympic Jumping Complex, a job he's had for 14 years.
Dryer said the Utah job has already been offered to one of the three other finalists, John Bower, the U.S. Skiing ski jumping/nordic combined program director.
Bower, who has been acting as a consultant to the state on the $4.9 million winter sports complex as part of his job with U.S. Skiing, said he is excited about the opportunity.
"This is the single most important development in our sport that's happened in the past decade," Bower said. He competed in the 1964 and 1968 Winter Games in the nordic combined event and coached teams in the 1976, 1980 and 1992 Winter Games.
Rand had been hired by the Sports Authority earlier this month and was scheduled to start work in June. Bower is expected to be approved for the post at the Sports Authority's next meeting on June 10 and will start shortly after.