SALT LAKE CITY – The big story about the women’s bobsled team has yet to be told. In fact, no one seems to be asking.
The story that has been rewritten more times than Lombardi’s “Winning is the Only Thing,” is the last-minute shakeup of the No. 1 U.S. team.
Surely you’ve read about driver Jean Racine’s stunning decision just prior to the start of the Olympics to replace her brakeman, and best friend, Jen Davidson with Gea Johnson.
While all of the focus has been on that tiff, Johnson – and her dubious past – has gone overlooked. The 1990 NCAA heptathlon champion was suspended from track and field competition for four years in 1994 after testing positive for anabolic steroids.
The 5-foot-7, 159-pound muscle-bound Johnson recently appeared on the Tonight Show and boasted that she would lift Jay Leno over her head if she and Racine medaled.
As tomorrow’s competition has drawn closer, more reporters are looking at Johnson and wondering why she’s got bigger biceps than Arnold Schwarzenegger
Suddenly it was revealed on Sunday that Johnson is suffering from a slight left hamstring injury. The team’s last two scheduled practice runs yesterday were abruptly canceled.
Maybe Johnson is injured or perhaps the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation finally got wise and realized that Johnson looks like a scandal ready to happen.
The team put out a two-sentence release saying media desiring further information can contact Julie Urbansky, the spokesman for the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation. But calls to Urbansky’s cell phone were answered by a computer generated message saying her voice mail was full.
According to Racine, Johnson will be in the back of Jean Racine’s bobsled today, or at least that’s the plan. “She’s my girl,” the driver said.
Asked if Johnson might be replaced, Racine said, “absolutely not.”