The world’s fastest track can rear up and bite even the best drivers.
Lange is biting back.
He finished his two heats in 1 minute 43.31 seconds. Germany-2, piloted by Thomas Florschuetz (1:43.42) is in second, and Russia-1, with Alexsandr Zubkov (1:43.81) at the controls is third.
American Steve Holcomb is fourth, a remarkable achievement after nearly crashing in his first run. After getting a nice push courtesy of brakeman Curt Tomasevicz, USA-1 banged into several walls and skidded sideways, but Holcomb’s driving skills kept his $60,000 loaner from flipping.
Three sleds crashed in the first heat as crews from Liechtenstein, Britain, and Australia all toppled. The accident involving Great Britain-1 was the scariest.
Driver John Jackson lost control in the 11th curve, tumbling the sled and losing brakeman Dan Money in the process. Money slid behind his ride while Jackson crawled into the nose of his sled and held on until it came to a stop near the finish line.
Jackson emerged from the cockpit and peeled off his bodysuit to reveal two nasty scrapes under his shoulder blades, flesh wounds caused by being gouged by Money’s spiked shoes and being dragged along the ice on his back. He looked as if he been attacked by a grizzly bear.
In the second heat, Canada’s Lyndon Rush, who has had more practice on this course than anyone in the field, couldn’t get Canada-1 through the track’s notorious “50-50’’ curve, a nasty section nicknamed by Holcomb because of the odds of escaping it without wrecking.
Both Rush and brakeman Lascelles Brown walked away uninjured, but their crash underscored the track’s technical difficulty.
Olympic officials have pushed back the start of today’s final rounds of two-man bobsledding because of warm weather. Originally scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m., the third heat of the four-man event is set to begin at 7.
Aerials
At 16, Ashley Caldwell might be too young to know any better. At 37, Jacqui Cooper might be too old to worry anymore.
