A Near-Miss Leaves U.S. Miserable

It was business as usual in the men’s Olympic bobsled Sunday at Utah Olympic Park.

There was, as usual, glory for Germany’s Christoph Langen and, as usual, heartbreak for a United States sled.

Langen drove like a man possessed in pursuit of the one major bobsled gold medal that had eluded him. His track-record 47.44-third run tied him for first with Switzerland’s Christian Reich, and his 47.61-second fourth-round effort gave him the gold by 0.09 of a second with a total time of 3:10.11.

Nothing, it seemed, could stop Langen, not even the four mediocre starts he had to overcome with backup brakeman Markus Zimmermann, a replacement for the injured Marco Jakobs.

It seems as though nothing can stop the U.S. men’s bobsled team’s run of frustration, either, and the result is its 46-year medal drought lives on. Todd Hays, rallying from a fifth-place performance in Saturday’s opening two runs, moved past fourth-place Pierre Lueders of Canada with a 47.63 final run and total time of 3:10.65.

Hays believed that would be good enough to hold off third-place Martin Annen of Switzerland. But Annen, who led Hays by 0.09 of a second entering the fourth run, produced a blazing 4.79 start--0.03 faster than Hays’ takeoff, and beat him for the bronze by that same 0.03.

The near-miss was devastating for Hays, but even tougher for brakeman Garrett Hines, who missed a bronze medal by 0.02 on Brian Shimer’s four-man sled in 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Hines was so distraught he declined to speak to reporters, leaving the explanations to Hays.

“It’s going to sting a long time,” he said. “I don’t know a worse place in sports than fourth place in the Olympics.

“We had all intentions to come here today and win the bronze medal. I’m kind of shocked Annen came back the way he did.”

Poor driving in the first run Saturday and a poor start in the second one was more than Hays--who was making his competitive Games debut--could overcome Sunday, despite producing a tie for the third-best run and a final run better than everyone else but Langen.

“I got more mentally composed and drove like I could, but it was too late,” said Hays, who will compete in the four-man bobsled Friday and Saturday. “That’s bobsled. I just didn’t do the job yesterday, and that’s all there is to it.

“But I got four runs under my belt here and learned a bit. I’m excited about next week. I generally do a little better in four-man and hopefully will then.”

The 39-year-old Langen drove with a small lucky pig charm on his uniform zipper, but his driving skill makes luck unnecessary. He won the four-man gold medal in 1998, but got only the bronze in two-man, matching the third-place he got in two-man in the 1992 Albertville Games.

He fiercely coveted a two-man gold medal and showed it at the end of his gold-clinching fourth run, pounding his fists on his sled in jubilation.

“That’s the only gold medal I’ve missed in my career--the two-man at the Olympics,” he said. “It was a super race.”