Olympic bobsledders are typically big, brawny and male.
Jill Bakken is none of the above. She's petite - about 5-foot-4 in shoes - and very much female. Yet, she's a bobsledder. Just not an Olympic bobsledder. And, unless she can talk more women into climbing into a sled, she may never be.The problem is that only five countries - United States, Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain and Canada - have women bobsled teams. To make a legitimate pitch for inclusion into the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, there must be 40.
And there must be a recognized world championship event. Stew Flaherty, national program director, said plans are being worked out for a world event this season, "and hopefully we'll know in the next week or two."
For now, Bakken and her teammates do what they can, which is simply run whenever possible, spend as much time as possible recruiting other women to the sport and being as competitive as their limited resources will allow.
In the beginning, bobsledding was a coed sport. Men and women often rode together. Then in 1940, Katherine Dewey - daughter of Melvil Dewey, originator of the Dewey Decimal System used in libraries the world over - drove the sled that won the U.S. national 4-man championships. It was the last time women raced. Some say it was a male thing. Officially, men were simply worried about the safety of women.
Even today, Italy doesn't have a team because doctors there will not release women to compete in so dangerous a sport.
"But I think what it shows is that women can be competitive in bobsledding," said Flaherty as he reviewed the chronology leading up to the revival of women's bobsledding.
In the summer of 1994, aware that other countries had competitive women's teams, the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation decided to hold a summer camp.
Bakken, then a competitive ski racer, happened to be looking for more winter activity and called the bobsled organization.
"I like winter sports," she said, "and wanted to try something different. They told me about the camp, and I decided to go."
After the camp, four women were selected to represent America. On the flip of a coin it was decided who would drive and who would brake. Bakken won and chose to drive.
The first years were hard, she said. The women had no money, no coach, no sleds and little respect from the bobsled com-mu-nity.
The men sledders ignored the women that year. It wasn't that the men were out to hurt their chances, Bakken said, "they simply weren't much help. Now, the men are totally supportive."
The women sometimes joke that they've had enough broken bones and walked away from enough crashes, like the men, to have earned membership in the bobsled club.
Even when things did get better, they weren't great, Bakken said.
The first sled used by the women was the one used by the Jamaicans in the 1984 Olympics. Pepsi owned the sled and after the Olympics held a national contest to give it a home. It was won by an 11-year-old girl who, upon hearing the women needed a sled, sold it to them.
Next came Pat Brown, the first coach of the women's team. He had coached the Jamaican team, which it turns out, proved beneficial. Both the Jamaicans and the women started with nothing.
This year, for the first time, the women have sponsors. American Skandia gave money for a new sled and equipment, and Eddie Bauer is providing uniforms. But the money has about run out and the season is just beginning.
Flaherty said there's enough to put one team, two women, on the circuit "if we watch our pennies."
"It's kind of a Catch 22 for us. We need more sponsors, but we can't get more sponsors unless we show results. And we can't show results if we don't have enough money to compete," he said.
"Up to this point the women have been using the old Jamaican sled and renting the other sleds. You can't get good sled by renting. As a result, they've been running with inferior equipment. Despite the problems, they've done pretty well. Jill is consistently fifth or sixth in her races, and Jean (Racine) is right in there with her."
There were, in the beginning, a lot of questions about the women's ability to participate in the bobsled race. One concern was the start. Races are won or lost with the start. A good push gives the heavy sled momentum. The unwritten formula is that ever second gained at the start translates to a time three seconds faster at the finish. The big, brawny U.S. men are said to have the sport's fastest starts.
Surprisingly, the times posted two weeks ago during training runs by Bakken and her brakeman, Meg Henderson, were less than a second behind the men, who averaged about five seconds for the push start.
Another problem is weight. The heavier the sled and crew, the faster the runs; thus the reason for big, husky men.
Here, said Flaherty, they face a dilemma. "Do we put more weight in the sled, which we can do, for the little we gain in faster speeds, or do we keep the sleds light for the women to get better push starts? It's one of the things we're working on," he said.
As for the Olympics, he said he feels there's a two-year window of opportunity. After that the women will have to look to 2006.
Which isn't so bad, Bakken said. "Sure, it's frustrating working this hard and not being able to look forward to the Olympics. Even if I don't make 2002 it's been a great experience. I have no regrets."
Another event trying to make 2002 is the skeleton, which also uses the bobsled track. This was an Olympic sport until 1924. It is now trying to get back in for 2002. This sport involves going down the track head-first on a sled that resembles a cafeteria tray on runners.
Flaherty said there is no competition between the two groups, only cooperation at this point.
"We're working together where we can. It would be nice to get both sports in, but if we can only get one then we want to make sure it's one of us," he said.
Currently, there are some things coming together for the women that could improve their chances. Flaherty said there's talk of doing a sequel to the Jamaican movie, but this time focusing on the women's team. There is also talk of a song and a music video on the women's plights to become Olym-pi-ans.
Whatever direction it goes, the women will keep sledding, trying to show the world they can compete - as they've already proven - in a sport people said they couldn't do. And yet they are doing it and doing very well.