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2006 Torino Olympic preview ... skeleton
// U.S. Olympic Committee // October 31, 2005
Depth is the biggest luxury for the U.S. Skeleton Team as both the men’s and women’s divisions are full of contenders. The race for Olympic Team selections will be heated, with someone, more than likely, on the outside looking in. The United States won three medals in skeleton at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Tristan Gale (gold/Salt Lake City, Utah), Lea Ann Parsley (silver/Granville, Ohio) are both hoping to earn a spot on the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team so that they can defend their medals at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy. Jim Shea, Jr. (gold/Lake Placid, N.Y.) recently announced his retirement. It will not be easy for Gale and Parsley, however, as they have plenty of challengers lining up trying to take their spot on 2006 U.S. Olympic Team and make some Olympic history of their own.
One such challenger is Noelle Pikus-Pace (Orem, Utah) who has burst onto the international skeleton scene in the 2004-05 World Cup season, lighting the track on fire with five World Cup medals (three gold,one silver and one bronze). However, due to a recent injury, Pikus-Pace's Olympic aspirations remain questionable. Pikus-Pace became the first American female to ever win the overall World Cup Skeleton title. She has quickly asserted herself as the top American competition for Gale and Parsley (who received her Doctorate in Nursing from Ohio State University following the 2002 Games). Others to keep an eye on in the female ranks include Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.), Katie Koczynski (Nyack, N.Y.) and Courtney Yamada (Boise, Idaho).
On the men’s side, 2002 U.S. Olympic Team Member Chris Soule (Trumbull, Conn.) has asserted himself as the top American slider in the 2004-05 season with two World Cup gold and bronze medals. Along with the gold medalist Shea, Soule (who doubles as a Hollywood stuntman) will be challenged by Eric Bernotas (Avondale, Pa.) a World Cup gold medalist in Lake Placid, N.Y., Chris Hedquist (Salt Lake City, Utah), who is coming off a gold medal performance at the 2005 Winter World University Games, and Zach Lund (Salt Lake City, Utah), who won a bronze medal in Lake Placid and was the highest American finisher at the World Championship in Calgary, where he finished fifth.
The U.S. is optimistic that regardless of who ends ups filling the two women’s slots and the three men’s slots on the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team, they will be very competitive sliding for medals in 2006.
Athletes will qualify for the 2006 U.S. Olympic Skeleton Team based on their 2005-06 World Cup results. The squad of three men and two women will be those athletes who have accumulated the most World Cup points in the 2005-06 season, less their worst finish. To gain World Cup results, the athlete must make the 2005- 06 U.S. World Cup Team at the 2005-06 U.S. National Team Trials. To qualify to compete in the 2005- 06 U.S. National Team Trials, athletes must qualify either through international competition during the 2004-05 season, or through the 2005 U.S. Regional Qualifiers at both the Lake Placid, N.Y. and the
Park City, Utah tracks.
Top Hopefuls:
Eric Bernotas (Avondale, Pa.)
Kevin Ellis (Dallas, Texas)
Tristan Gale (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Chris Hedquist (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Katie Koczynski (Nyack, N.Y.)
Zach Lund (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Lea Ann Parsley (Granville, Ohio)
Lyndsie Peterson (Taylorsville, Utah)
Noelle Pikus-Pace (Orem, Utah)
Jim Shea, Jr. (Lake Placid, N.Y.)
Caleb Smith (Lake Placid, N.Y.)
Chris Soule (Trumbull, Conn.)
Katie Uhlander (Breckenridge, Colo.)
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