LAKE PLACID, N.Y, - Virginia Guardsman Mike Kohn was victorious in four out of five competitions in the Lake Placid America's Cup competitions held from Dec. 18-20.
Although five-man bobsled teams don't exist, Kohn had an extra team member with him this week. Todd Hays was at the starting line for every training and race run, moving sleds and cheering on his teammates as they vie for an Olympic berth without him.
Hays was on track to qualifying as the third sled for the U.S. at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, but his journey came to an abrupt end when he suffered an intraparenchymal hematoma, a life-threatening injury where the brain bleeds from impact, from a crash during a training run in Winterberg, Germany.
"Todd called me right after meeting with [Chief Medical Officer] Dr. Byrne on Monday and informed me he would not be racing anymore," said Kohn. "He really wanted to see us qualify a third team for the Olympics. I kept asking about his injury and all he could talk about was what we needed to do to get our qualification. I thought his call was very classy, sportsmanlike and spoke volumes of him as a person."
The three-time Olympian was forced into retirement just six days ago. Despite the devastating news, Hays was at the bobsled track just a day later to help Kohn's team push their way onto the podium.
"The main reason I competed in bobsled is because I love the sport," said Hays. "My goal was to be involved in one way, shape, or form, so it makes sense for me to be out here helping Mike."
This is familiar territory for Kohn, 37, who first tried out for the team 19 years ago as a senior in high school. Since then, Kohn has competed in five Olympic trials and won the 2002 Olympic bronze medal as a push athlete in Brian Shimer's four-man sled, breaking a U.S. 46-year medal drought. Having already inked his name in the history books, Kohn began driving in 2003 to begin a new chapter of his bobsled career.
"Mike and I have been around for a long time," said Hays. "I see how hard he works in this sport and I want him to succeed. I have his best intentions in mind and we've been through too many ups and downs to not be great friends."
Only the top three third-ranked sleds among nations will be granted a spot at the 2010 Olympics. The German, Canadian, Swiss and Russian teams will be Kohn's biggest competitors for the three Olympic positions, making every point gained in each competition invaluable. The Lake Placid America's Cup event was about more than gold medals, but about climbing the ladder on the world-ranking list.
Racing in Lake Placid began on Friday, where Kohn and push athlete TJ Burns (Blue Bell, Pa.) missed gold by a mere hundredth of a second. The duo slid runs of 55.61 and 55.94 seconds for a combined time of one minute, 51.55 seconds.
Canadians Serge Despres and Steeve Claveau beat out the U.S. team with a total time of 1:51.54 after clocking runs of 55.75 and 55.79 seconds. In third was Nicolae Istrate and Florin Cezar Craciun from Romania with a total time of 1:52.02 (55.72, 56.30).
Two one-heat competitions were held on Saturday, and Kohn stepped up his performance to sweep both races with brakeman Nick Cunningham (Monterey, Calif.). Kohn and Cunningham eked out a run of 55.39 seconds in the first race to beat team Despres by only 0.09 seconds. The U.S. pair convincingly won the second race by 0.48 seconds over the Canadians with a run of 55.57 seconds.
Kohn capped the weekend as the second ranked third sled among nations with 602 points in two-man standings. Only the Germans have three sleds ranked above the U.S., but Despres lingers just behind Kohn with 580 points.
Kohn swept the four-man competitions today with his team of Burns, Cunningham and Jamie Moriarty (Winnetka, Ill.). Kohn's push crew originally returned to Lake Placid with hopes of pushing Hays to America's Cup medals before learning about his forced retirement.
"Todd doesn't have to be here," said Burns. "But he's up there at the start saying, 'Hey, you know how important this is, right?' He's cheering us on and helping us get to the Olympics when he could be at home feeling bitter about his situation. It's a testament to the kind of person he is."
The U.S. crew tied Despres and his team of Justin Wilkinson, Steeve Claveau and Cody Sorensen with a combined time of 1:50.74 for the win.
The second race was shortened to one heat, and Kohn once again led the field by only one-hundredth of a second for the gold medal with a run of 55.35 seconds. This time Istrate was in second with his team of Ionut Andrei, Ioan Danut Dovalciuc and Florin Craciun after sliding a time of 55.36 seconds. Despres finished third, 0.13 seconds from the U.S. team, with a run of 55.48 seconds.
Kohn is on the brink of cracking into the top ranked third sleds among nations in four-man. The Germans have three sleds on the top nine standings. Despres has 570 points to put the Canadians in second position, and Evgeny Popov's World Cup bronze medal performance today moves the Russians into qualification position as well. Kohn, who had 562 points, will have to leap over one of the above three nation's third ranked sled to qualify in four-man at the 2010 Olympics.
Kohn will rest for the next two weeks before meeting up with the U.S. team in Germany for the second half of the 2009-2010 World Cup tour to collect additional points towards his qualification to the games.
"We really want to qualify this team for the Olympics," said Kohn. "For us, for the nation, and for Todd."
"He'll be in Europe with a great staff out there," said Hays. "He'll be learning from the coaches, and I will help along the way. He's been on those tracks before, so he'll be fine."