News stories tagged with "bobsled"

(02/17/12) The best bobsled and skeleton racers are competing in Lake Placid this week in the 2012 World Championships. The competition will be a big test for the American bobsled team, which has struggled this year on the World Cup tour.

The US team is hoping to prove that its Olympic gold medal at the last Winter Olympis was no fluke and the program can sustain the funding and technical support needed to match the Europeans.

Brian Mann was at the track this week and has this preview.

(01/04/11) Our series, the Adirondack Attic, with Andy Flynn continues. You may know Andy from his series of "Adirondack Attic" books on local history. He uses the objects people make, use and leave behind to tell stories about the life and times of the region. NCPR is collaborating with Andy and his sources at the Adirondack Museum and other historical associations and museums in the region to bring these stories to air. Today, Andy finds a cassette of a noted Saranac Lake broadcaster taking a bobsled run at Mt. Van Hoevenburg.

(12/21/09) Four years ago, the US Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, then based in Lake Placid, fell into turmoil just before the Winter Olympics in Turin. The team dismissed head-coach Tim Nardiello following allegations of sexual harassment. Top athletes were knocked out of competition by freak accidents and a controversy involving performance-enhancing drugs. Team leaders say they've rebuilt the organization and developed a powerful new stable of athletes who could return to the podium in Vancouver. But as Brian Mann reports, the Americans will have to compete without one of its best bobsledders.

(12/16/09) One of the America's top bobsledders has been forced to retire just two months before the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Todd Hayes was diagnosed by team doctors in Lake Placid with a serious brain injury following a crash earlier this month. Brian Mann has details.

(04/28/06) The board of the Lake Placid-based U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation voted Tuesday to accept a temporary takeover by the U.S. Olympic Committee. The move follows a turbulent winter. The federation was hit hard by sexual harassment allegations against former skeleton coach Tim Nardiello, who lives in Lake Placid, and the drug-related suspension of men's skeleton racer Zach Lund for a banned substance in a hair-restoration product he was using. USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel told the Associated Press that this was "a significant step" adding, "We want to see a governance and managerial structure that better serves the sport." This marks only the second time the USOC has been pushed to the drastic step of essentially taking over a sport's governing body. The other time was with the U.S. Taekwondo Union in 2004. Brian Mann spoke yesterday with the federation's interim executive director Terry Kent.

(01/25/06) The US Olympic Committee says Lake Placid skeleton coach Tim Nardiello won't be allowed to coach the American sled team at next month's Winter Games in Turin, Italy. The decision effectively reversed the ruling of an independent arbitrator, who had ruled that sexual harassment charges against Nardiello were unsubstantiated. As Brian Mann reports, Olympic officials were also harshly critical of the Lake Placid based US Bobsled and Skeleton Federation

(01/12/06) The U.S. Bobsled Team won its first Olympic medals since 1956 in Salt Lake City four years ago. The turn-around is due in no small part to the philanthropic efforts of NASCAR veteran Geoff Bodine. He's raised more than a million dollars to help make better sleds with American technology. Last weekend, Bodine invited other NASCAR drivers to race the Olympic bobsled track in Lake Placid. They brought their addiction to speed and competition, and their fame, to help boost the sport. David Sommerstein reports.

(01/11/06) A judge in Elizabethtown refused yesterday to reinstate Olympic sled coach Tim Nardiello. Nardiello, who lives in Lake Placid, has denied charges of sexual harassment and inappropriate touching. The team now faces more turmoil. Top-ranked skeleton sled racer Zach Lund has been suspended for using a banned hair restoration product that can mask steroid use. As Brian Mann reports, Lund says he's the victim of an honest mistake.

(02/17/03) Sled racers from around the world competed this weekend in Lake Placid, which hosted the Men's Bobsleigh World Championships. Athletes faced bitterly cold temperatures, with a two-man American team finishing just shy of a medal. Brian Mann has details.

(02/12/02) Lake Placid sled racer Adam Heidt finished his Olympic competition in fourth place on Monday, as the singles luge event wrapped up in Salt Lake City. Heidt's finish was the best American finish in Olympic history and represents a major step forward for the US program. Italian Armin Zoeggeler took the Gold in an upset victory over German Georg Hackl. Brian Mann talks with Lake Placid photographer Nancy Battaglia, who had a front row seat Monday in Salt Lake City.