Will bobsled for food, Canadian Olympians say

Funding famine makes training tough Boss calls grant situation ‘complicated’

CALGARY— Bobsledder Steve Larsen sleeps in the claustrophobic confines of his nephew’s toy room in the basement of his brother’s home. Teammate Bret Bresciani fuels his Olympic dream at Wendy’s and McDonalds. Nathan Cunningham, at 24, had to get his parents to pay for his car insurance. They are all members of Canada’s national bobsled team — and serious candidates to represent the country at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics — but have not received a cent in funding since last March because of a foul- up in Bobsleigh Canada’s qualification criteria.

In fact, 10 of the 19 funding “cards” Sport Canada gave to Bobsleigh Canada this year went to development athletes, most of whom have little chance of competing in Turin.

In addition, another two athletes being funded — brakeman Lascelles Brown, a world champion, and newcomer Christiano Paes — have yet to secure Canadian citizenship, leaving their participation in Turin in doubt.

Meanwhile, Larsen, Bresciani and Cunningham are frustrated by a bureaucratic bungle that hasn’t been fixed since they were told in a March 9 email from Bobsleigh Canada official Matt Hindle that they’d qualified for $ 1,500 a month in Sport Canada funding The athletes have also lost a year of university tuition to which they would have been entitled had they been receiving the funding.

“ Going to the Olympics is like climbing a mountain,” said Larsen. “ It feels like we’ve been told ‘ Now, take off your clothes and climb it the rest of the way yourself.’ ” Larsen is working 10-hour shifts three nights a week until 2 a. m. for the Calgary transit commission to make ends meet without funding. Even if he wanted to sleep in, it’s not an option.

“I’m living in my brother’s basement in a little 10- by- 12 toy room,” said Larsen. “ My nephew wakes up early every morning wanting to play. . . . The overall stress from trying to juggle everything begins to affect every aspect of your life.”

Bobsleigh Canada boss Shane Pearsall called it a “ complicated” situation, adding the athletes were undone by a points system to determine who qualified for Sport Canada funding. The points system didn’t take into account injury — Larsen was hurt in bobsled crash last season — and also gave too much importance to results on the Europa Cup, a feeder circuit to the World Cup.

“ It’s just a wrinkle,” said Pearsall, who said his organization’s request for more cards was turned down. “ That wrinkle you didn’t think about and you’ve got to revisit it to make things better.”

Bobsleigh Canada has now overhauled the points system to focus solely on World Cup athletes and Larsen, Bresciani and Cunningham have been told their funding is to be reinstated in December. But they say that the damage to their training for Turin has already been done.

“ The people we’re competing against from other countries aren’t working full-time jobs, training one hour at night and trying to get up at 8 in the morning to run,” said Bresciani. “ Yet we’re expected to beat them.”

Bresciani and Cunningham, who were part of a crew that finished 16th at last year’s world championships, are on Canada’s second- ranked sled piloted by Serge Depres this season. Larsen is on Canada III driven by Jayson Krause. All three have scored well in physical testing leading into this season, despite their workloads. Mark Leblanc, another veteran facing the same financial plight, left the team recently.

“ It’s definitely a factor in that he’s not sliding right now,” said Cunningham.