PARK CITY — For a country that hasn't won an Olympic bobsled medal since a bronze at the 1956 Winter Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, the United States may see its best hopes rest on a couple of squads with absolutely no previous Olympic experience.
That is, assuming the U.S. bobsled team recovers from the potentially crippling loss of sled runners, so that it has a chance of garnering medals in the 2002 Winter Games.
With Utah athletes playing a major role in the rebounding of America's bobsled fortunes, the U.S. medal drought could end in a year and a half at the Utah Olympic Park in Bear Hollow — at least, that's the thinking of coaches of the U.S. women's bobsled team.
"Barring any injuries, the women's team right now . . . look real good for at least a medal — a possibility of two medals," said Bill Tavares, one of several U.S. bobsled coaches who gathered recently for a USOC-sponsored coaches summit at Park City. (He spoke with the Deseret News before the team was stunned by the theft of 11 sets of runners from a storage shed in South Salt Lake.)
Since the Winter Games began in 1924, women never were allowed to compete in bobsledding. But meeting in Athens last October, the International Olympic Committee voted to add women's bobsledding and skeleton events. The 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games will be the first for women sledders.
"We're always optimistic and looking for gold, of course, but we'll be happy with whatever medal we can get," Tavares added.
For the 1999-2000 season, U.S. women pairs finished first, second and sixth in World Cup points standings. And in February at the Women's Bobsled World Championships in Winterberg, Germany, the USA 1 team won the silver medal, USA 2 finished sixth.
Remarkably, of the four women on these sleds, three are connected to Utah. USA 1 featured Jean Racine of Waterford, Mich., and brakeman Jen Davidson of Layton. The USA 2 team was comprised of Jill Bakkeen, who divides her time between Park City and Kirkland, Wash., and Orem resident Shauna Rohbock, who starred in soccer at BYU and Mountain View High School
With the 2000-2001 season and 2002 Olympic Trials still looming in the future, it's impossible to say who will comprise the 2002 teams. But strong contenders are fighting for spots, and American women have tallied some fine achievements in the past year.
"So it's looking really strong," Tavares said, complimenting U.S. women sledders as great athletes with strong technical skill.
Also, the U.S. men's team has "set up a great foundation for the women's team," he added.
With the support of the USOC, Americans were able to start preparations even before the IOC announced the addition of women's bobsled contests for the 2002 Games in Utah.
Why are women bobsledders getting their first chance in 2002, an amazing 78 years after men bobsledders began competing in the Winter Games?
"Good question," said Tavares. "We have no idea. Bobsledding in general is a male-dominated sport."
One reason may be opposition by Europeans, said Greg Sand, a U.S. men's bobsled coach. Europeans don't necessarily have the same ideas about equal rights for women that Americans have, he said.
"They're in the good ol' boys' club, and they would rather have kept it that way," Sand said, adding that women's bobsledding enjoys strong support in the United States.
Tuffy Latour, who helps coach with Tavares, agrees about the U.S. women's chances.
"I'm a firm believer that we're going to end up with a gold and silver medal in 2002," said Latour, a former world-class bobsled driver in the men's program. "Sounds a little bold, but I believe our girls can, especially on our home track, pull out a gold and silver.
"At least two medals," he added.
Latour predicts that the U.S. women's toughest competition will be teams from Germany and Switzerland, two countries which have been minting medals for their male bobsledders for decades.
E-mail: bau@desnews.com