Since graduating from UAA in 2005 with degrees in aviation and journalism, Michelle Bartleman has traded gymnastics and track -- the sports she competed in for the Seawolves -- for the fast track. She's the seventh-ranked women's skeleton racer in Canada and her goal is to make the 2014 Winter Olympics team.
We asked Bartleman about the high-speed track at Whistler, which made news at the start of the Olympics when a Georgian luger skidded off the track and was killed. Bartleman, who has made some 150 runs down the track, was there when the fatal accident happened. Here are some of her thoughts:
"Ask any slider -- bobsleigh, skeleton or luge -- and they will tell you things do not come out of the track. Ever. The mere thought of this is almost beyond comprehension, because it simply does not happen.
"Obviously, it would be completely inappropriate to put the blame wholly on the Georgian luger, as there was a multitude of contributing factors that converged in a completely unprecedented way, including low experience, driving errors and a purely unpredictable combination of physical factors, such as trajectory, steering forces, G-forces and equipment reaction, to lead to what can only be described as a tragic ending.
"Some people have asked how this event has affected me. The plain truth is that, as an athlete, it has very little. This is not to say that it does not affect me on a human level. I was there at the track when it happened -- no one walks away from such circumstances unaffected.
"However, my reaction as a slider must take reason into consideration, or my career would effectually come to a halt.
"First, luge and skeleton are very different sports with very different dynamics. Some of the factors contributing to the luge accident likely wouldn't happen on a skeleton sled.
"Second, and most notably for me, is that I have confidence in myself, in my training and in my skills as a skeleton athlete. I come from one of the top nations in my sport, with a proficient development program and world-class coaching.
"If this had been an accident involving the mistake or malfunction of another person or system, such as a track worker on the ice, a misplaced barrier or a clearance security breach, then its effect on me would have been vastly different. Those are situations where my trust is placed in someone else, and where the circumstances are beyond my control. However, I have progressed through my sport in a calculated and concentrated way, and when I stand on the starting block, I am not scared. There was a time when I was, and that was not a time in my career when I would have, or even could have, faced the Whistler track."
Alaskans at the Olympics
(all times AST)
Today
Men's cross country, 50-kilometer classic, 8:30 a.m. (James Southam)
Closing ceremonies, 5 p.m.
Juneau man headed to the Paralympics
Joe Tompkins, a mono-skier from Juneau, is one of 50 U.S. athletes who will compete in the Paralympics, which begin March 12 in Vancouver. The March 13 downhill race at Whistler will mark his third and final Paralympics.
For several years Tompkins, 41, has been one of the top-ranked mono-skiers in the country and sometimes the world, but he has never won a medal at the Paralympics. "I'm saying third time is the charm," he told the Juneau Empire.
Vancouver Olympics 411
Oddsmakers at bodog.com favor Canada by one goal in today's gold-medal hockey game. The over-under: 5.5 goals. Favorites to score the first goal Patrick Marleau of Canada at 10-1; Jarome Iginla of Canada, Patrick Kane of the United States and Zach Parise of the United States, 12-1.
Dispatch Alaska
Jeremy Teela, 33-year-old Anchorage biathlete, asked about his athletic future after a disastrous showing by the United States in the men's relay race Thursday:
"Where do I go from here? I'll probably go into Whistler and have a steak and a beer and try to forget about this race."
-- Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Compiled by Anchorage Daily News sports editor Beth Bragg. Daily News wire reports contributed to this report.
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