TURIN, Italy – The performance of U.S. athletes at the XX Winter Olympics has not gone as well as some predicted. Jim Scherr feels that’s unfair.
He may also feel a bit responsible.
“I think this team might be a victim of mismanaged expectations,” said Scherr, CEO of the United States Olympic Committee. The U.S. after Saturday, the last full day of action in the Turin Games, was second in the medals race to Germany, 29-25. They were tied for first with Germany with nine gold medals.
“The (25) medals are an all-time high on foreign soil,” Scherr said. “We’ve had more than 60 top 10 finishes, more than any other nation. This has been a great performance and we view it as a great performance.”
Where the U.S. falls short is in comparison to the record 34 medals it won at the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002. Scherr and other USOC officials made no predictions for Turin because they didn’t have the home field advantage. Privately, however, they expected big things in Italy.
What they received were so-so performances from some bright lights and several pleasant surprises from the shadows.
Figure skater Michelle Kwan, downhill racer Bode Miller and speed skater Apolo Ohno are some of the big names who didn’t become the face of the Turin Games.
“We had expectations for a few high-profile athletes,” Scherr said. “We thought Bode might be at a higher level than he’s been at recently. Michelle Kwan was injured. It just didn’t work out. Apolo fell. … That’s short-track racing.”
Kwan aggravated a groin injury and withdrew after her first workout. Miller has been a flop on the slopes. Ohno had won a bronze entering Saturday night’s short-track finals.
The men’s curling team, led by skip Pete Fenson, was one of the surprises. They won a bronze. Fenson, like many curlers on the men and women’s teams, is from Bemidji, Minn. He owns a pizza parlor there.
“I’m going to Bemidji, order a large pizza and tip very well,” Scherr said.
Julia Mancuso, who won the gold in the women’s giant slalom, was another surprise. Fenson and Mancuso both won their medals Friday.
Scherr said the USOC will pay close attention to how their athletes behave at upcoming Olympics in China in 2008 and Vancouver in 2010. He was talking about Miller’s late-night behavior, the feuding between speedskaters Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis and freestyle skier Jeter Peterson’s early trip home for fighting.
“I think we have to do a better job of communicating the situation they’re in,” Scherr said. “We also have to communicate better about accountability and what might happen if our expectations are not met.”
Regarding Hedrick and Davis, who won five medals between them, Scherr said, “We will sit down and talk with them and their coaches. They are both very competitive individuals and speedskating is an individual sport.”
It didn’t seem like the athletes who followed Scherr into the press conferences needed any such lessons.
“We are here representing the United States,” said freestyle skier Toby Dawson, the moguls bronze medalist. “The whole world is watching us.”
Scherr said the USOC would take more control in naming coaches for different sports federations and managing their athletes.
The skeleton team endured a number of setbacks, including having their coach fired just before the Olympics following a sexual harrassment charge and other indiscretions. Figure skater Johnny Weir, second in the short program in Turin, was rattled after missing a bus to the long program and failed to medal.
“We will be in charge of all of that,” Scherr said, referring to getting athletes to their venues.
The USOC is conducting an audit of the USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation to make sure its funds have been spent properly. Scherr said it’s unlikely they’d be decertified.
The Winter Olympics ends Sunday with the closing ceremonies. Speedskater Joey Cheeks, who donated the $40,000 he received for winning gold and silver medals to the charity, Right to Play, will be the U.S. flag bearer. Scherr said the USOC would match Cheeks’ donation.
There was no point of contention there.
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