A skeleton crowd as well
Fans who showed up could fit in a phone booth Family cheers local Calgary hero Pain to bronze
CALGARY— The keen CBC producer out of Toronto had one request for a cameraman shooting footage for a profile on Olympic gold- medal contender Duff Gibson at the World Cup seasonopener yesterday: Get some good shots of the fans.
Er, just one little problem with that.
Gibson, a Calgary firefighter with a great shot at the podium in three months in Turin, competes in skeleton, a head- first sliding sport with a great European tradition which returned to the Olympic roster four years ago in Salt Lake. And skeleton in Canada draws, well, skeleton crowds.
There were two spectators in the portable orange stands as a Chinook whipped through Canada Olympic Park at the start of the first run yesterday — both were coaches. More people showed up later, but it’s a safe bet almost all were relatives.
“ I always joke that my family makes up half the spectators in Calgary when we have a race here,” said local hero Jeff Pain, who just may have been right yesterday as he had a group of 10 family members spanning four generations watching his thirdplace finish, one spot ahead of Gibson. A Canadian speed skater who made the climb to the start area on Wednesday to watch her friend Mellisa HollingsworthRichards compete in the women’s World Cup — she went on to smoke the field for her first win ever — was taken aback by the scene that greeted her.
“ It was pretty sad,” she could be overheard telling her teammates later at the Olympic Oval. “ The only people there were her mother and stepfather.”
It is surreal to see a World Cup event in an Olympic season devoid of any atmosphere, even if it takes place on a weekday — and it becomes even stranger when over the loudspeaker a two- minute delay for television coverage is announced.
It turns out there is an audience for the sport; it’s just not here. The second run was televised live on Eurosport’s main channel, while the first run was on Eurosport 2. There are negotiations going on currently with Eurosport for a new four- year deal to televise World Cup skeleton.
“ In Europe, we’ll have 2 million viewers,” said Pain. “In Canada, this will be on TV probably on a Saturday afternoon when they do that CBC thing. It’s just the way it is.”
Gibson, who won the world title in 2004 before a crowd of some 5,000 fans in Konigssee, Germany, is philosophical about it.
“ My goals are mostly related to what I want to achieve and not because I have any illusions about being a famous person,” he said.
Still, the winner of yesterday’s race, Swiss Gregor Staehli, thinks the status quo is unacceptable.
“ Nowadays, it’s not only a race; it should be an event,” Staehli said. “ You need music and things around it. You have to provide an environment, a whole program around the race, and then I think a lot of people would be here. They could invite school classes. These are things they have to think about.”
There will be more people out to see the World Cup speedskating season opener here on the weekend, where world records are being predicted in every event. Canada will be represented by strong Olympic contenders, including Cindy Klassen, Clara Hughes and Kristina Groves.
In two- women bobsled, Helen Upperton of Calgary and Heather Moyse of Summerside, P. E. I., surprised with a bronze medal. Moyse, who is on Canada’s women’s rugby team, only began sledding in August but has excelled on the push — they tied the track start record last night. Their result also equalled Canada’s best- ever finish in women’s bobsled.
“ It’s all kind of surreal,” Moyse said. “ I don’t think it’s hit me yet what a big deal this is.”