Hays, in Seventh, Will Make Final Runs

Todd Hays says his Olympic career is over. His gold medal chances look to be too.

The Texan, who won the U.S. bobsled team’s first Olympic medal in 46 years at Salt Lake City in 2002, said Friday that he would retire after his final two slides at the Turin Games.

“Tomorrow will be my last two bobsled runs, and you’ll see every ounce of energy that I have in this sport,” said Hays, 36, in seventh after his first two runs. “Unfortunately it didn’t go as I’d hoped, but fortunately I know there’s a lot worse things in life than not finishing the Olympic Games with a medal.

“I’ve got to try to do a lot better job for my teammates.”

Hays completed his two runs in 1 minute 50.99 seconds and is .49 of a second -- a sliding eternity -- behind Germany’s Andre Lange, the gold medalist in two-man, who has found an icy groove on a course with high-banking curves and head-rattling chicanes.

After finishing his two runs, Hays came through the mixed zone without his teammates and said he was retiring.

“I made it a long time ago,” he said of the decision, which surprised U.S. bobsled officials. “I’m a little long in the tooth, and I’m not getting any younger. I don’t think I’ll be able to get it done at 40 years old in Vancouver.”

Lange, who won the four-man over Hays in 2002, is seeking to become the fifth driver to win the two- and four-man events in the same Olympics. The last to do it was Germany’s Wolfgang Hoppe at Sarajevo in 1984.

Switzerland’s Martin Annen is in second, .13 of a second back of Lange. Russia’s Alexander Zoubkov is third, followed by Canada’s Pierre Lueders, Germany’s Rene Spies and Steve Holcomb in USA-2.

In fifth after the first run, Hays lost time to all the top sleds and also dropped behind Spies and Holcomb.

“It was bad driving, I wish I had some other reason,” he said. “I told the other guys, they deserve to be in medal position. The driver just didn’t get it done.

“I had the equipment, I had the push. I just didn’t drive well again.”