Olympic dream reborn on ice

After failing to make speedskating team, agent Patrick Quinn, 38, sees route to Torino via luge

Patrick Quinn was there as an agent when one of his clients, Derek Parra, a former teammate on the U. S. national speedskating team, won the gold medal in the 1,500 meters in Salt Lake City at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Four years later, Quinn

wants to experience Parra’s

emotional Olympic moment C rsthand — as a luger, a year from turning 40.

The speedskater- turned- agent- turnedhusbandturned- father- turned-dreamer is authoring arguably the most improbable storyline of the 2006 Winter Games, set for Feb. 10- 26 in Torino, Italy.

At an age when most Olympians are years into retirement, the Chicago- area resident, who turns 39 in November, is on the cusp of realizing a childhood dream. But his lifelong quest has come at considerable cost — from the heartache of two near- Olympic misses as a speedskater, to the C nancial strain of the long journey, to the heavy toll on his 21⁄ 2- yearmarriage.

But he can see the icy C nish line, right down to the day doubles competition is scheduled Feb. 15 high in the Italian Alps at Cesana Pariol.

“ It’s 115 days away,” he said after a training session last week in Lake Placid. “ I’ve been waiting 30 years for this.”

The countdown continues Nov. 5-6 when Quinn, his doubles partner, Christian Niccum, 27, and the U.S. luge team open the World Cup season in Sigulda, Latvia. “ We’re anxious to get on with it,” Quinn says. “ It’s here. Five more races and we’ll knowwho’s going.”

The C rst C ve World Cup events, con- cluding with the Dec. 16- 17 stop in Lake Placid, will determine the U.S. Olympic team. Three doubles teams will compete for two Olympic spots.

Barring injury or major surprise, twotime Olympic medalists Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin, the most-decorated U.S. doubles team, are virtually assured of one spot.

Quinn, who took up luge two years ago after failing to make the Olympic speed-

By Nancie Battaglia for USA TODAY Taking a risk on world stage: Christian Niccum, left, was a four- time juniorworld champion in doubles; Patrick Quinn was a nationally ranked speedskater until 2002.

By Dan Smith, USA Luge Fast track to success: Last season, their C rst together, Christian Niccum, left, and Patrick Quinn had three eighth- place C nishes in six World Cup races.