Shenanigans

Ignore this post if you don’t like rants.

After the competition in Austria it was a quick blast on the Autobahn up to Konigssee for a bit of push training. Push training is just done on a small 80m track behind the track proper. As the name indicates, it's just training for the push at the start of a run. The track proper is extremely busy at the moment. There was the Luge world cup there last week, the Bavarian Championships today and the Bobsled and skeleton world cup all next week. As soon as that's finished there's the Challenge Cup (my Olympic qualifier). As I said, the track is super busy. No extra sliding time available for anyone.

Or so we thought.

Somehow certain people have managed to get extra training time. In little half hour slots after each world cup session for the next week. That's quite a bit of extra practice on a track that will get you into the Olympics if you're good enough on it. It seems that nearly every week I read stories about some student or other getting in trouble about posting comments about teachers or fellow students. I'm not sure what the ramifications of this are for me, but as a member of the Irish skeleton team I suppose I should show some decorum. Consequently I'm not going to name names. I'm just going to assign initials at random. At Random.

So, Mr A and Mr G are enjoying their training and gradually getting better at this oh-so-important track. Which is great. I don't have a problem with people putting effort in, working hard and reaping the rewards. What I do have a problem with is when other people are denied the opportunity to put the effort in, work hard and reap their own rewards. While Mr's A and G are happily sliding away, there are several other people who have been told that they can't slide on the track.

Does that sound a little unfair to you? It sure does to me. And this is just icing on the cake. Some background info needed here. Tyler, the South African we train with, needs to do three competitions on three separate tracks in order to compete in the Challenge Cup. He already had two tracks done, but was left without the third when the competition in Altenberg was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions in the form of tons and tons and tons of snowfall. Tyler was entered in the race, was there for the little competition training that wasn’t cancelled and possibly could have done quite well in the race. So it would be a bit unfair to exclude him from the Challenge Cup simply because there was too much snow at another competition. The FIBT, following a precedent already set a couple of years ago, have officially credited him with the race so that he may compete in the Challenge Cup. It’s important to note that Tyler still needs to qualify to the Olympics through the Challenge Cup. He hasn’t been handed anything on a platter, only the chance to compete fairly.

More background info. Tyler is an extraordinarily talented slider. I will be genuinely shocked if he doesn’t finish in the top 8 in the Challenge Cup. Now imagine, if you can, that Tyler wasn’t competing in the Challenge Cup. That means he wouldn’t be taking up one of the qualifying places. In turn that means someone in 9th place would be able to qualify. Well, would you be at all surprised if I told you that someone in that very position is objecting to the FIBT crediting people with the race in Altenberg. I’ve even heard that someone is going as far as to take the issue to some arbitration court. Interestingly it’s also the same person who has managed to get extra training on the Konigssee track, while excluding others who also need it. I don’t believe for one second that the FIBT will back down on their decision. It’s the only fair decision.

As I said, I’m not going to name names. I don’t have to. You will be able to see the name for yourself. Just go to www.fibt.com later this month. Have a look at the results for the Challenge Cup. If there is any justice in the world you will see the name just outside qualification for the Olympics. Preferably by as small a time margin as possible to make the justice even sweeter.

Let this be a lesson to anyone looking to get involved in sport at international and Olympic levels. When the stakes are this high, people show their true colours and will screw each other over at the drop of a hat.