Skeleton racer disqualified for equipment gaffe

WHISTLER, B.C. – The excitement over Jon Montgomery’s gold medal in men’s skeleton on Friday was tempered somewhat by the earlier disqualification of Canadian teammate Mike Douglas.

Douglas, from Kleinburg, Ont., was declared ineligible by International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (FIBT) officials before the event’s third of four heats because he had the runner covers on his equipment in the parque ferme, where the sleds are inspected before the race.

"Somehow they got left on, which you cannot do," Canadian team leader Reid Morrison said at the Whistler Sliding Centre. "That’s against the rules, to have the runner covers on.

"It was noticed about two minutes later that they were still on. We tried to go in and remove them. At that point, (FIBT officials) said no and automatically disqualified him. The unfortunate thing is that at a normal World Cup, that’s just a fine. It’s not a disqualification."

Douglas was seventh after Thursday’s opening two heats, when he was 96/100ths of a second off the pace. His medal hopes were squelched once the letter of the rules was applied.

"He was three minutes late, which is a violation," federation spokesman Don Krone said. "Therefore, the result is disqualifications. Unfortunately, no one from the Canadian team or the athlete himself or the coaches went and uncovered the runners on time."

Douglas, a 38-year-old X-ray technician at Foothills Hospital in Calgary, was not available for comment Friday night. This was his first, and likely final, Olympics.

"It’s a very unfortunate incident," Morrison said. "I’d like to get some answers to why it wasn’t just a fineable offence, because it’s nothing that’s performance-enhancing.

"Why you can’t have the runner covers on there is because you don’t want to be heating the runners, but the sled has still got to go into the ice box. It still can be checked to see if the runners are heated."

Amid the jubilation over his own triumph, Montgomery took a moment to empathize with Douglas, who made the national team in 2006.

"My heart bleeds for him and his family," Montgomery said.

The newly crowned gold medallist also addressed the pre-race protocol regarding the sleds.

"It’s always been our responsibility and we’ve never had our coaches remove our runner guards," Montgomery said. "Perhaps for future reference we will have that plan. But today it was our responsibility, as it always is. It’s a tough loss."

Morrison said the responsibility for the foul-up should be shared.

"I don’t want to necessarily blame the athlete on it," he said. "There’s no doubt athletes are responsible for their equipment. That’s the rule. The athletes have to look after their stuff. As a coaching staff, as a group, we all have to look at these things. To say it was athlete error would be a disservice to Mike."

Morrison, who doubles as the president of Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton, was uncertain how the situation unfolded as it did.

"Automatically, the athletes and coaches all look to see that everything’s done," he said. "I’m not sure if it was because of the girls’ race that was just before it. Maybe people got distracted up there. I’m not sure."