American realizes added significance of victory
02/20/2002
PARK CITY, Utah – Vonetta Flowers obviously knew that she and sled partner
Jill Bakken had won the first Olympic gold medal in women's bobsled since
this was the event's debut.
She also was aware that the United States had not earned a bobsled medal
since 1956.
What Flowers, the 28-year-old former University of Alabama at Birmingham
track standout, did not immediately realize was that she had become the
first African American to earn a Winter Olympics gold medal.
"I guess I didn't think about that," she said. "That's awesome.
Hopefully, this won't be the last of it. Hopefully, it will encourage
other African American boys and girls to give winter sports a try."
Not the only musical partners
The split of sled partners Jean Racine and Jen Davidson
was much publicized, largely because the one-time close friends had
earned a reported six figures in endorsement income.
Less publicized was that the partnership of Jill Bakken and Vonetta
Flowers also was the result of an 11th-hour parting of ways.
Four months ago, Flowers thought she was out of the sport after being
dropped by Bonny Warner. But Bakken's brakeman of three years,
Shauna Rohbock, struggled last fall as well.
In November, Bakken told Rohbock that she wanted Rohbock and Flowers to
have a race-off to decide who would be Bakken's brakeman. The difference
in the Racine-Davidson split and this one is that Bakken and Rohbock
were not marketed as a pair, and that Rohbock agreed to the race-off.
Davidson and Rohbock were at Olympic Park on Tuesday. The difference is
Rohbock was there at the finish line to hug Bakken.
A little more second guessing
U.S. men's bobsled push athlete Mike Kohn, who is part of
Brian Shimer's four-man team, said what others within U.S. Bobsled
have thought all week: "If Jean [Racine] had stuck with Jen [Davidson],
who pushed well on this track, she might not be in this spot."