The Associated Press
Jill Bakken (front) and Vonetta Flowers of the United States celebrate in the finish area after their first bobsled run Tuesday in Park City, Utah. They won the gold medal.

U.S. wins 2 golds

ALAN ABRAHAMSON AND BILL DWYRE, LOS ANGELES TIMES

Originally published Wednesday, February 20, 2002

SALT LAKE CITY -- U.S. athletes won two more gold medals in speed skating and bobsledding Tuesday, easily setting a U.S. record haul for the Winter Olympics and positioning the U.S. to far surpass its wildest golden dreams.

The unprecedented success of U.S. athletes at these Winter Olympics -- reaching 21 medals here Tuesday with gold medals by Derek Parra in speed skating and an unexpected win by U.S. women bobsledders Vonetta Flowers and Jill Bakken -- was born out of U.S. failure and embarrassment at the '88 Games in Calgary.

It was there that U.S. winter athletes won just six medals, and only one gold. And it was there that the United States Olympic Committee vowed to move quickly, establishing a special advisory board that became known immediately as the Steinbrenner Commission, named after the flamboyant, no-nonsense owner of the New York Yankees who became its chairman.

Its mission was to do what its chairman was known for doing best: Play hardball. It was no longer enough for athletes to make the Olympic teams, Steinbrenner intoned in February 1989, they needed to bring home the gold.

Over the past 14 years and many millions of dollars plunged into training, developing a diverse talent pool and financially supporting its athletes, the USOC watched the progress: 11 medals at Albertville in 1992, 13 each in Lillehammer in '94 and Nagano in '98.

They became so confident that they predicted "at least 20 medals" here.

"Doggone if it hasn't happened," USOC spokesman Mike Moran said Tuesday.

Parra, who won the gold in the 1,500 meters in world record time to go with a silver medal last week in the 5,000 meters, is the first Latino to do so for the U.S. during a Winter Games.

Bakken and Flowers -- who became the first black to win a gold at a Winter Olympics -- surprised that competition with their first-place runs Tuesday.

"I think 20 or 20-plus medals shows that after 25 years of struggling to find the best way to fund our sports," USOC president Sandy Baldwin said, "we've found a method that really works."

Bakken drives to bobsled surprise; Parra sets record

- Medal count: Germany leads with 28. U.S. second with 21.

- Aerials: Favorite flops, but Pack captures bronze for U.S.

- Washington: Torin Koos goes one-and-done in cross-country skiing.

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