U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 1st Class Preston Keres |
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Driver Brian Shimer, World Class Athletes Spc. Mike Kohn
and Spc. Doug Sharp, and brakeman Dan Steele come to a
stop after finishing their third run for USA-2 at the Utah
Olympic Park track in Park City, Utah, during the 2002
Winter Olympic Games. They went on to win the bronze medal
behind USA-1 and Germany-2. Click on Image for high resolution photo |
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| Brian
Lepley Olympic Correspondent U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center Public Affairs PARK CITY, Utah (February 23, 2002) — America’s second “Miracle on Ice” earned Army Specialists Mike Kohn and Doug Sharp, pushers on the USA 2 bobsled, a bronze medal at the Winter Olympics. The soldiers, assigned to the Army World Class Athlete Program, were part of an all-Army effort. Driver Brian Shimer, a five-time Olympian who’s driven WCAP’s Army bobsled for the last two years, and Oregon National Guard Spc. Dan Steele, the team’s third pusher, filled out the four-man sled. “It’s just really an honor for me to be up here, representing our country with these teammates of mine, Doug and Dan and Brian,” Kohn said. “It’s just an unbelievable feeling. I’ll never forget this.” “Mike Kohn and myself went through boot camp in the U.S. Army to race for the U.S. Army program so I can’t say enough about Mike because his experience has been the same as mine,” Sharp said. “As my teammates will attest, I think I’m one of those extreme patriots. If you don’t bleed red, white and blue, you’re against me and my team. Thanks everyone, this is unreal.”
Shimer, whose only motivation to make his fifth Games was that it was on American soil, will retire from competition. “After yesterday I didn’t think we had a shot at a medal, but after the first run today we thought maybe it was possible,” Shimer said. “Ending my career on American soil makes this so much more special; that’s it, I would never come back after that finish.” USA 1, piloted by civilian Todd Hays with Army Reserve 2nd Lt. Garrett Hines as a pusher, won the silver medal. These are the first U.S. bobsled medals since 1956 when Arthur Tyler drove to a bronze. Germany 2 won the gold by a staggering .3 over Hays, 3:07.51 to 3:07.81, in front of 15,000 boisterous fans at Utah Olympic Park. USA 2’s 3:07.86 edged Switzerland 1’s 3:07.95. After three heats Switzerland was second to Germany, with USA 1 and USA 2 third and fourth, respectively. Shimer’s sled trailed Hays by .15 and the Swiss by .17 going into the fourth and final run. In that last heat, the Swiss clocked a 47.49 while Shimer blazed to 47.23, knocking Switzerland off the medals podium. USA 2’s pushers knew the 39-year-old driver pulled his teammates through with excellent driving because the sled’s push starts were 8th overall. They went from fifth to third after their third run, from fourth to the bronze in Shimer’s last-ever race. “Brian drove it phenomenally well,” Sharp said. “Our starts weren’t as fast as we’d liked but our loads (getting in the sled) are probably the best in the world.” Shimer said he knew Janis Skrastins, U.S. National and Olympic team coach, doubted his abilities after numerous injuries left Shimer without a team two years ago. “Janis came up to me after the race and said ‘This is like the miracle on ice, you coming back; this is like the U.S. beating the Russians, you medalling here,’” Shimer said. “I’m just glad I got to prove him wrong. I know he’s proud of us.” Steele, a former WCAP soldier and 1998 Olympian, was among the doubters of his team’s success at the 19th Winter Games. “Very few people gave Brian a chance to be here. When we first started together I didn’t think we had much of a chance,” he said. “Brian Shimer, fifth Olympics, going out with a medal, you can’t write that kind of thing.” When Sharp came to bobsled in 1998 after a collegiate pole vaulting career, he sought out Shimer. “When I stepped on a track in 1998 I went right up to Brian Shimer and said ‘Hey, sign this hat if you would.’ And he said ‘Man, I’m not going to sign that for you, you’re going to be a bobsledder,’” Sharp recalled. “I said ‘I want you to sign it so I can remember this on a day-to-day basis: That I will be racing with you in the 2002 Winter Olympics and that we will win a medal.’ “So he went ahead and signed it and I’m sure he forgot all about it.” Shimer won’t forget the Army’s support two years ago. “At the time, I went through two years of pretty bad injuries and I couldn’t compete very well. Equipment is issued (from the national team) to drivers by rank,” Shimer said. “Because I was injured, I can’t keep my ranking. Now they’re going to give it to another driver because I don’t have the results because of my injuries. “So WCAP stepped in and said we think you’re our man. They asked me, ‘What would we need, as a team, to get better?” We went over some things and they said ‘We want to help you out, as well as our guys, so let’s build a brand new sled.’ At the time, I said that would fit in perfect.” It was along way back for Shimer and Hines, who was a pusher for Shimer in the 1998 Nagano Olympics. They finished .02 from the bronze. “Ten years for myself and this is a great way to end a drought (of 46 years),” Hines said. “I can’t put into words what this means to me. I’m going to think about this forever.” Hines and Hays’ pusher Randy Jones become the first black men to ever medal in the Winter Olympics. The are they third blacks ever to medal in Winter games, after pusher Vonetta Flowers who earned the first-ever women’s bobsled gold Feb. 19 with WCAP Spc. Jill Bakken. Shimer would like to pursue a coaching career and wouldn’t mind doing so for WCAP. For Kohn, who came on active duty from a unit of the Virginia National Guard in Leesburg, those plans mesh with his. “I’ve followed Brian since I graduated from high school, started training with him in 1988, and learned a lot from him,” Kohn said. “He and Todd probably know more about the sport of bobsled than anyone else who speaks English.” Kohn is ready to follow in Shimer’s drivers seat. “I’d like to go to driving school this October. I’d like to have Todd Hays and Brian Shimer coach me, they’re great guys and great leaders,” Kohn said. “We need to really do some recruiting and get some push athletes out here because I can tell you right now, all these push athletes are going to retire.” WCAP is one of more than 200 Army Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs for soldiers and families worldwide provided by the U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Va. For more information, stories and biographies of Army WCAP athletes, visit www.armymwr.com. |
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