The saddest controversy in Olympic bobsledding ? the breakup of the previous top team of Layton's Jen Davidson and her pilot, Jean Racine ? was to go to arbitration Thursday.
The American Board of Arbitration, meeting in San Diego, was set to hear the appeal by Davidson, who is trying to undo Racine's decision to switch brakemen.
Davidson and Racine had been inseparable partners and friends for years, winning the previous two years' World Cup for bobsledding. Raking in endorsements, charming in media appearances, they seemed poised to become the darlings of the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games ? and appeared likely winners when women's bobsled takes its first runs on an Olympic track.
But they began losing in this season's World Cup races. Once they finished third. In others they took no gold, and finished in 11th place on Nov. 23, 2001, in the World Cup race at Igls, Austria.
After that race, Racine switched to Gea Johnson, originally from Monticello, San Juan County, and now living in Phoenix.
Johnson has been burning up the track. During Olympic selection races in January at Bear Hollow, Racine and Johnson not only were the clear winners, they also set a new track record.
Meanwhile, Davidson has filed appeals seeking to hold a "push-off" against Johnson. If she wins the action, she will compete with Johnson for the right to power Racine's sled in the Olympics.
"My experience with arbitrations is you really don't have a clue what's going to come out of it," said Matt Roy, executive director of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, Lake Placid.
The USBSF is the governing body of the sport in this country. Earlier it rejected Davidson's claim. But the federation has agreed "in certain instances to be bound by decisions rendered by the American Arbitration Association," Roy said.
The background to Davidson's complaint is that on Dec. 12, Park City driver Jill Bakken scheduled a push-off competition between Vonetta Flowers of Birmingham, Ala., and Provo resident Shauna Rohbock, who had been her brakeman. (Eventually, Bakken chose Flowers and the two were tapped for the Olympics, along with Racine and Johnson.)
"Other people asked to join in" the push-off, Roy said.
Davidson's complaint says that Racine told her there was no need to join the push-off because her position was secure. But the next day, Racine replaced Davidson.
Davidson's complaint says that "by Jean telling her there's no need to push off, Jean denied Jen a right to compete," Roy noted.
This question may be the crucial one for the arbitration board to consider: What are the rights of a bobsled pilot to choose a brakeman?
In the sport's bylaws, two different sections are involved. For World Cup events, the driver is to consider six factors in determining the push athlete.
However, the rule book for Olympic competition "merely states the driver must designate the name of the push athlete and race with the push athlete in the Olympic trials," he said.
"And then the federation picks the team." That is based on "the fastest team to the bottom of the hills."
In this case, the fastest team in the Olympic trials was that of Racine and Johnson.
Davidson may not have a chance, if the federation's interpretation is correct. The pilot has the right to designate the brakeman. "If I were in the trials I could pick my mother," he joked.
E-mail: bau@desnews.com