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© St. Petersburg Times, published February 20, 2002
U.S. bobsled duo makes history in several ways
PARK CITY, Utah -- The U.S. bobsled team no one knew about certainly made a name for itself -- and history.
Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers stunned the field Tuesday night, winning the gold medal in the inaugural women's Olympic bobsled race and breaking a 46-year drought in the sport for the United States.
Bakken and Flowers routed the field, setting a track record in their first run over the Bear Hollow course at Utah Olympic Park. They completed two runs in 1 minute, 37.76 seconds and won by .3 seconds.
Flowers, a former track star at Alabama-Birmingham, became the first African-American to win a Winter Olympic gold medal.
"This is a dream come true for me," said Flowers, who was still sobbing an hour after.
Told she was the first black athlete to win Winter gold, she added: "That's awesome. Hopefully this will be the end of it (being a rarity). And it will encourage other African-American girls and boys to give winter sports a try."
Sandra Prokoff and Ulrike Holzner took silver and Susi-Lisa Erdmann and Nicole Herschmann got bronze, both for Germany.
Jen Racine finished fifth, well out of medal contention. Gea Johnson, whom Racine chose to replace Jen Davidson as pusher, was hobbled by a strained left hamstring and had starts of 5.54 and 5.58 seconds, both among the worst of the day.
The U.S. gold also marked another milestone -- it was the 21st American medal in these Games, surpassing the U.S. Olympic Committee's goal of 20.
The Americans have six gold, eight silver and seven bronze medals. The most medals the United States had won in a Winter Games was 13.
MEN'S AERIALS: A stunning fall dropped defending gold medalist Eric Bergoust of the United States from first to last at Park City, allowing Ales Valenta of the Czech Republic to win gold.
Hometown favorite Joe Pack, a former football and soccer player at nearby Park City High, won the silver and Alexei Grichin of Belarus won bronze.
Valenta nailed a revolutionary quintuple-twisting, triple back flip on his second jump. It was only the second time he had tried it in competition, and the first time he landed it.
Bergoust led after the first jumps and was the final of 12 jumpers in the second round. He said he saw Valenta's score and knew he'd need something special to beat it. Instead he landed flat on his back.
"I didn't want to go out and finish fourth," Bergoust said. "I wanted to get the gold or last, and I got last."
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY: Julija Tchepalova of Russia won the gold medal in the 1.5-kilometer sprint at Midway. Evi Sachenbacher of Germany won the silver and Anita Moen of Norway was the bronze medalist.
Tchepalova covered the Soldier Hollow course in 3:10.6. In qualifying, the 58-woman field was narrowed to the fastest 16. Americans Tessa Benoit, Kikkan Randall, Aelin Peterson and Kristina Joder failed to qualify for the elimination heats.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY: Tor Arne Hetland of Norway won the gold medal in the men's 1.5K sprint, edging Peter Schlickenrieder and Cristian Zorzi at the finish. Schlickenrieder of Germany won the silver, and Italy's Zorzi won the bronze.
Hetland covered the distance in 2:56.9 on the same course as the women used. Americans Carl Swenson, Torin Koos, Lars Flora and Kris Freeman failed to qualify for the elimination heats.
BIATHLON: Norway's Ole Einar Bjoerndalen has three gold medals at these Games -- and has a shot today to make it four, moving him into a very elite group.
Only two have won four gold medals in one Winter Olympics: American speed-skater Eric Heiden (five in 1980) and Russian speed-skater Lydia Skoblikova (four in '64).
The Norwegians -- Bjoerndalen, Halvard Hanevold, Frode Andresen and Egil Gjelland -- are one of the favorites in today's 30K relay.
WOMEN'S CURLING: Britain advanced to the semifinals by winning two matches at Ogden, defeating Germany 9-5.
Britain earned the chance to meet defending gold medalist Canada in one semifinal. The United States faces Switzerland in the other.
Britain advanced to the match by beating Sweden 6-4. The playoffs were necessary after the three teams tied for fourth during round-robin play.
SPEED SKATING: Jochem Uytdehaage of the Netherlands broke the world record in the 1,500 in 1:44.57 but settled for silver after Derek Parra's record run.
Norway's Adne Sondral, the defending champion, won the bronze from American sprinter Joey Cheek, who was on record pace until fading badly on the last lap.
WOMEN'S HOCKEY: Russia took fifth place, beating Germany 5-0. China beat Kazakstan 2-1 in overtime in the seventh-place game.