Uhlaender Confident Going Into Skeleton Event
Katie Uhlaender, who hadn't even heard of skeleton until three years ago, calls today's competition "the race I've been waiting for. . . . I'm excited."
(By David J. Phillip -- Associated Press)
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Three years after taking up the sport, 21-year-old Katie Uhlaender will be the lone American today in the women's skeleton competition. And she's confident she can challenge gold medal favorites Mellisa Hollingsworth-Richards of Canada and Maya Pedersen of Switzerland.
"It's my race to throw down," Uhlaender said, shaking her fist as her red, white and blue-tinged hair bounced a bit. "It's the race I've been waiting for."
Noelle Pikus-Pace, the American who entered the 2005-06 campaign as defending World Cup champion and prohibitive favorite for Olympic gold, broke her leg in Calgary and didn't even reach the Turin Games.
In her absence, Hollingsworth-Richards and Pedersen have dominated the international circuit. Between them, the pair won 13 of the 21 World Cup medals awarded, including six of seven golds.
Uhlaender hasn't reached a podium since opening the year with a pair of bronze medal finishes. Nonetheless, Uhlaender's confidence is high.
"The first two races of the season, I was waiting for those races to qualify for the Games," Uhlaender said. "And this is the race I was waiting to qualify for. It's time to show. I've been waiting, and I'm excited."
By now Uhlaender's used to telling the story of how she'd never heard of skeleton or seen it on television until three years ago. A friend urged her to try bobsledding and that got her exposed to skeleton.
"When I was 18 and got into this sport, I had a plan for my life," said Uhlaender, who has ended up putting off college while she pursues an Olympic medal. "You have to be flexible and willing to take the path God sets for you. And I guess that's why I am where I am."
Women's Skeleton U.S. Team Katie Uhlaender On TV NBC, 8 p.m.-midnight
