On first glance, it seems a harsh decision: Skeleton racer Michelle Kelly bounced from any chance at the 2010 Olympics for manipulating the steel runners on her sled at a selection race.
But Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS) felt they had little choice but to leave Kelly off the team for the upcoming international races – and thus end her Olympic hopes -- if they wanted to maintain their credibility with their atheletes.
Make no mistake, this was no small misdemeanour in their sport. Like Formula One, skeleton has its rules when it comes to equipment to try to ensure a level playing field. Manipulating your runners is akin to mechanical doping. It doesn’t matter if you did it on purpose or not, the infraction is there.
It would have been easy for BCS to pretend it didn’t happen. They wouldn’t be the first national federation to turn a blind eye. And in the case of Kelly, they’re dealing with a former world champion considered to have medal potential for the 2010 Winter Games. But they had to know not dealing with the infraction in a forthright manner could mean losing the rest of the team, which had followed the rules.
The international governing body’s (FIBT) guidelines states the markings on a steel runner cannot be altered in any way. The markings, which the FIBT stamps on the uniform steel sold to make runners, were reduced and/or missing on Kelly’s runners.
It’s really out of the ordinary for something like that to happen – and Kelly had reportedly already been warned about another set of runners not being legal before the race.
But does the punishment fit the infraction? There doesn’t seem to be uniform penalties laid out in the FIBT rules. Rules offences can draw anything from a fine to the loss of a licence to compete in FIBT events. In the BCS rules, it seems similarly vague, with a wide range of options for what are considered "major infractions.
That will be for the appeals committee which is being formed to hear Kelly out to decide. She is understandably distraught, saying her world has been turned upside down, but has offered no explanation yet.
She is not only appealing her disqualification, but the decision by the Canadian coaches not to give her the sixth and final spot on the team that was left to their discretion.
“Traditionally, that type of situation is for if a bear jumps out and grabs somebody on the track,” said Don Wilson, the BCS ceo. “They are for unfortunate circumstances that perhaps someone has no control over.”
Kelly situation is indeed unfortunate, but make no mistake about it -- she did have control over it.
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