For Stephan Bosch, the last call to board has been made, and the train is about to pull away from the station — without him.
That, pretty much, summarizes his plight to represent the United States in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy. His window of opportunity is about closed.
"Now, it looks like 2010 is more possible," the German-born bobsled driver explained as he prepared to drive in the four-man America's Cup competition at the Utah Olympic Park.
After a third-place finish Friday, he rebounded Saturday to squeeze out victory. His winning margin over Joe McDonald, winner on Friday, was a mere four-hundredths of a second over two runs down the bobsled track.
The Canadian team, with Ricke Christensen driving, was third.
Bosch came to the United States in 1999 hoping to get a green card and pursue his bobsled career. That didn't happen. Then, on a trip to the Olympic Park a few years back for a bobsled event, he met his soon-to-be wife, married and stayed.
He is now a driver for the public rides offered by the Olympic Park and the official U.S. development coach.
There remains in the pursuit of his Olympic dream two requirements: He must compete in three international events 24 months prior to the Games and he must become a U.S. citizen.
"If I were to find a sponsor, I could, possibly, go to Europe and compete in a couple of Europa Cup events, which would meet the requirement," he said. "But that would be tough right now."
For the past year and a half, he's been trying to gain citizenship. A hearing scheduled this past October to establish permanent residency was canceled, "and I haven't heard anything since. I wasn't told why it was canceled. I'd hoped to have it before the end of the year. I'm doing all I can."
He also faces some challenges at home. His wife suffered two strokes while giving birth to their first child and is currently involved in a long-term recovery program. This past week, he said, was a difficult one.
He remains optimistic, however, and said he will continue to work toward his goal, which is to represent the United State in an Olympics — if not 2006, then 2010.
That included racing in the two-day America's Cup.
Riding behind him in the winning USA IV sled were Jim Roberts, Tim O'Mara and Jeremy White. His time for the two runs was one minute, 38.99 seconds. McDonald posted a 1:39.42.
USA I, with John Napier driving, was fourth.
In other events, gold medalist Jim Shea swept the two skeleton events. His time for Saturday's win was 1:42.80. American's Brady Canfield, Kevin Ellis and Brian McDonald finished 2nd through 4th.
In the women's competition, Kathrina Koczynski of the U.S. team was first, followed by Jessica Palmer and Jody Barton, also on the U.S. team. Koczynski's time was 1:46.07.
The race was to have started mid-afternoon, but because of the warm weather the race was pushed back in order to ensure ideal track conditions.
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