Up and at it early to drive one of our injured breakmen (Charles Munier)
to the airport (@8am) so he can have his minor surgery for his meniscus
tear and begin rehabilitation back in Monaco. Discussions have gone on
between head coach of the World Cup team of Monaco (Bruno Mingeon),
myself and Manager (David Plassais) to determine the best scenario for
the teams both America's Cup and World Cup as they too have been plagued
with injuries.

Being an Olympic year, things are crucial for point collection in order to
qualify for the Games this February in Vancouver. Monaco also must slide
with athletes in the Games that have Monaco Passports as a portion of
the team only possess French citizenship. This makes things a bit
complicated as some of Monaco's best athletes may never make it to an
Olympics unless they apply and get granted Monaco citizenship or they
slide for France one day.

Team Monaco has been in Park City, Utah since Dec 16, so needless to
say, I've had a great opportunity to teach my two pilots the bobsleigh
driving lines of the 2002 Olympic track which I competed on back in Feb
2002 at my first Olympic Winter Games as an athlete.

Today will be the first time my pilots (Anthony Rinaldi and Fabien
Barel) compete on the Park City track. The only difference from training
for my athletes is that both drivers will be teaming up together - Barel
as pilot / Rinaldi as breakman due to injuries suffered by their
breakmen and to achieve the best results for their country. Their Goal -
top 20 with a 5.23 push. This being a historical moment in America's Cup
history due to the largest showing of 2man sleds, 28 to be exact
occurred on a spectacular sunny day. Most countries present, other than
Canada and the USA, were the smaller nations which are trying to
accumulate points for the Olympic qualifications which include - AUS,
ROU, KOR, SVK, JPN, NZL, LIE, JAM, BRA and MEX. The disappointment
occurred in the women's field as there were only 8 sleds vs a min of 11 (2woman
teams) which did not qualify the race for full points. They were therefor only able to honor partial points.
This does not help the athletes very much as all need to
accumulate the maximum # of points to help in qualification for the
Games. This may result in teams having to travel to Europe prior to the
cut off of the Olympic deadline for point accumulation for
qualification. Some have not budgeted for this added expense, therefor,
either their credit cards will have to be used (unless they are already
maxed out) or their Olympic dreams may be shattered! There's one thing
to say about this sport, there are many rules and things to know to do
it well, be successful and move ahead.

Today will be the first day I don't stand at one of the corners of the
track analyzing the lines of my athletes as they execute the corner (too
high, too low or just right for example). This is a day which coaches
get to enjoy the sport in a different way. It's like graduation day or
exam day. You've done all your studying, now to write the test. Pass or
Fail, Celebrate or Back to the drawing board. Race day, anything can
happen which makes it even more fun and stressful...a crazy mixture of
adrenaline and peace. It's my day to see how my team and others handle
the pressure of competition. The proud moment is when my athletes are on
the line ready to push, knowing that I've given all I can and they are
prepared for the experience. The rest is up to them!

At the end of the day some unexpected disappointments and unexpected /
expected victories occurred. Romania's pilot took off at the start
without his breakman...never seen that happen before (instant
disqualification), Canada's top woman's team was disqualified due to
being overweight by 2kg (Szabon) (and was sitting in first position
after the first run) which then opened the door to Brazil (Santos) who
came home with the gold, runner up being Australia (Wilkinson). Canada's
number 1 men's team (Despres) came in second behind one of USA's World
Cup teams (Hays) and our team achieved a final result of 22nd position,
much improved from Barel's last years results (but below today's goal of
20th) and with pushes that exceeded their set goals for today (5.22).
Regardless of their improvements, they as well as many left scratching
their heads wondering where they lost time after having 2 decent runs
compared to training. This track is one you must not over steer as you
will kill the speed, when you must let your sled run free. A good pilot
directs the path of the sled vs trying to keep it under control. The
sled is an object which is out of control. You as a driver simply
direct it to take it's fastest path, not killing it's speed by steering
too heavily. Timing is crucial!

It's been hard on Barel's regular breakman (Mathias Mirende) as he has
been looking forward to race with Barel whom he has been training with
for the last two weeks. Due to the decisions made by the Monaco staff,
he is the odd man out who is left to be a helping hand at the track and
behind the scenes with the equipment preparation. One thing is for sure,
to make a successful team, you need people to create it. One does not
reach the top alone. There are always those that are not in the lime
light that assist in the outcome. It's hard, however, to keep that in
mind all the time when you are the one sitting out. It always helps when
you receive recognition by your pilot or support staff and are made to feel
like part of the team regardless of whether you competed. Ultimately, it must
come from within yourself to feel you are of value in your position. This is
also an athlete's time to shine by showing how helpful and supportive
they can be by being a true asset to the team.

Back at the hotel now 2pm for food, rest, blogging, and paying hospital
bills (so far 4200$US Yikes!) while the team preps the sled and runners
for race #2 tomorrow morning.