Coach sounds off on international bobsled fed

Canada’s skeleton team remained in the Altenberg world cup in the former East Germany, but the bobsledders withdrew from racing because of coach Tom De La Hunty’s safety worries.

“In my mind they should have cancelled the race,” De La Hunty said on a Jan. 6 media conference call, the day after Canada 2 pilot Chris Spring was seriously injured in a training crash at turn 16.

After Spring lost control of the sled, it broke through wooden barriers at the roof of the track. A steel girder ripped off the front axle, which was dragged through the sled to the rear axle, with the athletes in side. De La Hunty withdrew his bobsledders because International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation officials did not follow through on a pledge to repair the turn and improve safety at the track.

"There was no change at all except some new shiny bits of wood, therefore the track was equally as dangerous," De La Hunty said.

The 27-year-old from Australia, who is based in Calgary, was airlifted to hospital Jan. 5 in Dresden with a broken noise and serious cuts and bruises. Bill Thomas of Queensville, Ont. suffered bruised lungs and minor trauma while Graeme Rinholm of Saskatoon, Sask. sustained a broken fibula and cuts to upper legs, buttocks and underlying musculature. Tim Randall of Toronto suffered minor injuries. When the quartet will return to Canada and how long their rehabilitation will take is not yet known.

“It's just a miracle the guys got out of it without having their limbs ripped off,” De La Hunty said.

Spring learned bobsledding in 2008 and raced for Australia at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics before joining Canada last season. He successfully completed four two-man training runs in his first visit to Altenberg, but completed only one of three four-man training runs. Canada 1 pilot Lyndon Rush speculated that Spring may have been nervous from the first crash and could have been distracted by falling snow, but said “crashing in bobsledding happens, but you never go through the roof.”

“You always have concern when you go to Altenberg, but Chris Spring has driven Whistler and Lake Placid, and they’re two of the other toughest tracks in the world. He’s done well there,” De La Hunty said.

“This wasn't a mental problem, this was a physical problem with the bobsleigh track, and I would not be doing my job if I sent the team down on a track that I knew was dangerous, really dangerous.”

Spring finished 14th in four-man and 19th in two-man at the 2011 world championships in Konigssee, Germany.

The Altenberg track officially opened in 1986 and was renovated for the Feb. 10-12, 2012 FIL world championships. FIBT executive director Heike Groesswang said Friday that “an official statement would be published by tomorrow.”

The crash was arguably the biggest incident in sliding sports since Feb. 12, 2010 when Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died from a training crash on the Whistler Sliding Centre on the opening day of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The 2010 Games facility hosts the bobsled and skeleton world cup on Feb. 2-4.