PARK CITY, Utah – No, the moment wasn't golden. But after 46 years of U.S.
men's bobsled futility, it was just as sweet.
Doubly sweet, in fact.
A silver medal for 32-year-old Texan Todd Hays and his three-man crew.
Erich Schlegel / DMN
USA-1 members, including Texan Todd Hays (front), push down the start of the
third run.
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And would you believe it? A bronze medal for USA No. 2 driver Brian
Shimer, the 39-year-old fifth-time Olympian and hard-luck poster boy of
America's bobsled misery.
Just like that, at 5:50 p.m. Utah time Saturday, with a frigid wind
blowing snowflakes sideways through Olympic Park, America earned its
first men's bobsled medals since 1956.
"I'm just numb," said Shimer, voice cracking as cheers from the sellout
crowd of 15,000 rang in his ears. "Nothing but tears of joy. I'll be
crying until I'm dehydrated. "
Almost lost in the din was the fact the winning driver of Germany's No.
2 sled, 28-year-old Andre Lange, had just seized the baton from
39-year-old countryman Christoph Langen, bobsled's most decorated
driver, who withdrew Saturday because of a foot injury.
In other words, it was a historic night all the way around.
"It's hard to put this into words," said Hays, the Del Rio native,
former University of Tulsa linebacker and 1993 U.S. Kickboxing champion
who took up bobsled on a whim, with a 1994 tryout in San Antonio.
"It's such an honor to represent this country, in the Olympic Games, in
this country and to win a medal is absolutely amazing," Hays added.
"We knew the Germans were going to be very tough. They've won bobsled
races for many, many years now. ... We are really happy with a silver."
Erich Schlegel / DMN
Members of USA-1 and USA-2 celebrate their silver and bronze medals.
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The day began with Hays in first by a mere .09 seconds, Lange in second
and Shimer a seemingly out-of-contention fifth, .30 out of a medal spot.
But epitomizing America's nearly half-century-long bobsled plight,
nothing about Saturday's decisive third and fourth heats was normal or
easy.
During the third heat, under bright sunshine and in 40ish temperatures,
Hays' sled faltered, Lange's seized the lead and Shimer's moved into
contention.
As the fourth heat began, Lange led by an almost insurmountable .27
seconds over Switzerland's Martin Annen. Hays was .29 back and Shimer
.44 back.
With .34 seconds of separation between Shimer and fifth-place Christian
Reich of Switzerland No. 2, America was all but assured of its
drought-breaking medal. But which team?
Both. As the final heat began, a cold front dropped temperatures by more
than 20 degrees, and with it changed the fortunes of U.S. bobsled.
Shimer's sled ran a 47.23, the fastest time of the fourth heat. Hays'
sled, running next, ran a 47.33 to nip Shimer by .05. And when Annen's
crew stumbled with a 47.49, America had clinched two medals.
It almost didn't matter when Lange then took the gold by a comfortable
.30.
Erich Schlegel / DMN
USA-2 driver Brian Shimer (left) celebrates with USA-1 driver Todd
Hays.
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"Five-time Olympian, last heat of his life, he gets the job done and
pulls off a medal," Hays said of Shimer. "How amazing is that? I tell
you, that's storybook right there."
Tough situations, indeed. Shimer was a favorite in the 1994 Olympics,
but was disqualified for over-heating his runners. In 1998, his four-man
sled finished .02 out of a bronze medal.
"If you were going to write a book and wanted an ending to make
everybody cry, you'd have written it like that," Shimer said, tears in
his eyes. "Sixteen years, and that's all I ever dreamed of. To go out
there, ... in my last race, it's a fairy tale ending.
"As far as I'm concerned, that bronze is almost shiny as gold."
Hays' chase, although not as long as Shimer's, was unlikely as well. It
started when his brother, Lee, told him one summer day in 1994 that he
was going to take him to San Antonio for a U.S. bobsled tryout. They
woke up at 5 a.m. the next day and away Hays went.
"I owe it all to him," Hays said. "I have no idea why he thought I would
be a good bobsledder. He believed in me, and here I am.
"I look back at it every night and think about the incredible
circumstances that have taken place to get me here," Hays said. "Every
time I talk to children I say, 'If a boy from Del Rio, Texas, can be on
the Winter Olympics bobsled team, you can do anything.'
"Now that this has happened, I firmly believe you can do
anything."