Skeleton racers ? some of the most colorful athletes in winter sports ? take to the track at Utah Olympic Park today in medal events for both men and women.
This marks the return of men's skeleton racing to the Olympics after a 54-year hiatus. Even more historic is the fact that the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games will be the first time ever for women skeleton racing.
America's teams feature Utahns Lincoln DeWitt, a 34-year-old computer programmer who lives in Park City, and Tristan Gale, 21, Salt Lake City, whose perky personality captivates fans whenever she competes. Both are experienced champions, with DeWitt winning the World Cup in the 2000-01 season and Gale walloping all competition in the Verizon Championship team races in January.
Lea Ann Parsley, a life-saving firefighter from Granville, Ohio, joined the U.S. team at the last minute by winning another spot for the American women. She helped the U.S. team defeat the Swiss on their own track at St. Moritz, Switzerland, giving the U.S. women two spots. Since she was the runner-up to Gale in the selection races, the place went to Parsely. Parsley.
Other members of the U.S. team are Jim Shea Jr. of Lake Placid, N.Y., 33, the third generation of the Shea family to compete in the Winter Games; and Chris Soule of Trumbull, Conn., who turned 29 on Feb. 3 and who has worked on stunts with Demi Moore in the movie "G.I. Jane."
Among the best skeleton sliders from the rest of the world are Alex Coomber, born in Belgium and representing Great Britain; Steffi Hanzlik, a German who won the 2000 world championships; Gregor Staehli, Switzerland, a veteran skeletoneer (his father, Buddy, is called the "father of Swiss skeleton") who has stacked up a pile of medals since 1994.
E-MAIL: bau@desnews.com