Men bobsledders are heading this week to Lake Placid to test a new track, where more members of the U.S. Bobsled Team will be chosen.
However, women bobsledders have wrapped up a training session in Calgary, Canada, and will be going to their homes — but not to Lillehammer, Norway, as planned earlier.
Instead, after resting at home they will start on the World Cup tour at Winterberg, Germany. Until recently, international competition schedules called for women bobsledders and both men's and women's skeleton teams to compete in Lillehammer on Nov. 24 and 25, but that leg of the tour has been canceled.
The International Bobsled and Toboggan Federation (FIBT, for Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing), based in Milan, Italy, announced that skeleton and women's bobsled competitions were dropped from the schedule at Lillehammer.
According to an announcement by FIBT, the Norwegian Bobsled and Skeleton Federation informed the FIBT "that it was unable to hold the competitions as scheduled."
After consulting with the vice president of sport and the heads of the skeleton and women's bobsled sectors, the FIBT executive committee "decided to cross the competitions off the calendar and not to replace them in the same period of time," the announcement adds.
Those contests now will begin in Winterberg.
Meanwhile, the men's and women's national team selection races were held in late October at Utah Olympic Park near Park City. Driver Todd Hays' crew finished in first place for the men's team, said Julie Urbansky, public relations director for the U.S. Bobsled & Skeleton Federation.
Joining Hays of Del Rio, Texas, are crew members Pavle Jovanovic of Tom's River, N.J.; and Garrett Hines and Randy Jones, both of Atlanta, Ga. Their combined time was 1:36.51 for two runs, with start times of 4.81 and 4.82 seconds, the fastest of the night.
Second-place honors for the men's teams in Park City was claimed by Brian Shimer of Naples, Fla., and crew members Mike Khon of Chantilly, Va.; Paul Wise of Geneva, Ill.; and Doug Sharp of Jeffersonville, Ind., Urbansky said.
Driver Joe McDonald of Kingston , N.Y., and his crew were next in speed. Crew members are Justin Orr of Minooka, Ill.; Ivan Radcliff, Houston; and Steve Holcomb, Park City.
Fourth place went to Mike Dionne of Alphaetta, Ga., and crew members Dave Owens of Tulsa, Okla.; John Kasper of Thornton, Iowa; and Earl Shepherd of Pittsburgh, Pa. Fifth place went to Bruce Rosselli of Terre Haute, Ind., and crew members Denton Randolph of Cape Cod, Mass.; Mark Ganek of Shaumburg, Ill.; Bill Schuffenhaur and Clayton Meeks of Marietta, Ga.
Jean Racine of Waterford, Mich., and her brakeman, Jen Davidson of Layton, Utah, led the women's bobsled competition. Their times were 1:41.70 and 1:41.27.
Bonny Warner of Discovery Bay, Calif., and Vonetta Flowers of Birmingham, Ala., took second place. Third went to Jill Bakken of Park City and Shelly Stokes of Fresno, Calif.
"The women's bobsled national team was announced following the races," Urbansky said. "Drivers Racine, Bakken and Warner will lead brakemen Davidson, Stokes, Flowers, Alicia Brimhall (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Alison Duffy (Buffalo, N.Y.) into the 2000-2001 World Cup season."
The men's bobsled national bobsled team will be chosen after training in Calgary.
E-MAIL: bau@desnews.com