Olympic-class bobsled runners stolen from a storage locker in South Salt Lake included revolutionary new blades that may not be replaceable before the 2002 Winter Games, says the executive director of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation.
"It's kind of a triple-whammy," said Matt Roy, speaking by telephone from federation headquarters in Lake Placid, N.Y. Thieves took three sets of fast new blades, plus other blades that were used in the past, and the blades against which the new ones were tested, Roy believes.
Roy says he believes that among the runners stolen were some belonging to woman's national team member Bonnie Warner; Brian Shimer, a four-time Olympian driver on the men's teams; and bobsled women's coach Tuffy Latour.
The eleven sets of runners belonging to members of the U.S. bobsled team stolen Sunday night includes four three-foot runners, so 44 were taken in all.
A thief or thieves broke into A-1 Access Storage, 3202 S. 460 West and took four rifle cases in which the runners were kept. Most likely, Roy said, they thought they were getting guns instead of strange steel blades.
The runners are worth about $200,000. But to members of the bobsled team they are priceless.
"The runners are the single most important technology piece on the bobsled," said U.S. Bobsled team member Travis Bell. "These were the best existing runners, the latest and greatest stuff. This was the stuff that was going to guarantee us two spots on the podium for every event."
The runners were in a storage locker donated to Bell, formerly of the Salt Lake area.
Bobsled runners are designed differently for each course, according to Bell. What made these so valuable is that two years of research went into designing the runners specifically for the Winter Sports Park.
"What are we supposed to do?" asked Bell. "This is a four-year project. We could already be behind the pack for 2006. Our sponsors have given nothing but time and money with nothing in return. We can't go back to the sponsors and ask for more money. We're crushing the Olympic dreams of every athlete in bobsledding. Our chances (of winning) are slim to none."
Bell worked with Carpenter Steel to design the new runners, said Roy. "It's taken a couple of years to find the steel and get them cut and tested."
He believes Carpenter has put "hundreds of thousands of dollars" into the fabrication. A member of the U.S. Bobsled team tested the blades recently in Calgary, Canada, and found them between 0.2 second and 0.3 second faster per run than earlier runners.
The men's bobsled race has four runs. "That would equate anywhere from 0.8 to 1.2 seconds," a huge advantage in a race, Roy added.
Developing new runners could take months. The process requires unconventional metalworking and difficult machining.
"You can start with two pieces of steel that are the same and have them cut the same, and some will be fast and some won't." The art involves determining the friction coefficient of the steel on ice, how the blades are marked by the runs, and how they heat up.
"There are an awful lot of variables that go into building a runner and whether it works or not on a particular track," he said.
Some of the runners were made by an Austrian, Peter Kienast, around 1990. Kienast coached the team through the 1992 games and is now deceased.
The team hopes the runners will be discovered. If not, it will have to "muddle along," said Roy. "It's not really a prospect we'd like to dwell on too long."
South Salt Lake Police detective Darin Sweeten said there were, in fact, about a dozen rifles and shotguns that were stolen in addition to the bobsled parts. Investigators have no leads on any possible suspects.
Other storage units were broken into, though none of them had as much stolen as the one belonging to the bobsledders. Both police and Bell believe the theft was random.
"I'm positive they didn't know that's what they were taking," Bell said. "I'm scared to death they'll end up in a field or a Dumpster. We don't want to press charges or ask any questions. Just don't take my Olympics from me. I'd hug the guy who stole them if he brought it back."
Anyone with information on the runners is asked to call the South Salt Lake Police at 265-4056, or the federation at 1-800-BOBSLED.
E-mail: bau@desnews.com