The U.S. goes into the final two speedskating events of the Sochi Games poised to "go home without a single podium finish at the Olympics for the first time in 30 years," and while "theories abound ... some insiders view the collapse as the result of years of dysfunction at U.S. Speedskating," according to a front-page piece by Gary D'Amato of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. U.S. speedskater Maria Lamb yesterday said, "I think over the last several years most of us have managed to perform incredibly well in spite of a lot of the organization rather than because of it. That adds up over the years, and unfortunately it came to a head that we could no longer perform well over here. This is my third Games, and there is so much more nonsense in general going on. You have to try and tune it out. Not having an organization support you as it should, it becomes a lot worse." D'Amato reports it is "not fair to point the finger" at either Exec Dir Ted Morris, who started in September, or President Mike Plant, named to the position in March. They "inherited a toxic environment of athlete grievances, overlapping committees and turf-protecting volunteers, not to mention fresh scars from coaching and skate-tampering scandals on the short-track side." The "onus now will be on Morris and Plant to determine what went wrong in Sochi and make the appropriate fixes." The NGB during the Games saw their Under Armour Mach 39 skin suits come "under a cloud of suspicion," but it seems the suits were a "convenient scapegoat and probably fed into the Americans' insecurities about their performances." Also, many insiders "blame U.S. Speedskating's insistence on having its skaters train on fast ice at altitude in Salt Lake City as the root of the problem" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 2/20).
FRUSTRATION BOILS OVER: The AP's Paul Newberry notes Lamb "took aim at the organization's leadership after her last-place showing in the women's 5,000 meters." She said, "The skinsuit issue is honestly just the tip of the iceberg. ... The organization could have done a lot of things differently. We have lost a lot of staff and we've [had] to deal with a huge amount of controversy. That definitely affects you." Morris said that Lamb was "placed in a difficult situation when asked about the team's problems right after her disappointing finish." He noted that other skaters, including Heather Richardson, have "praised the governing body for its support heading into the Olympics and the steps it has taken to deal with funding woes and organization infighting." Morris: "I guess we're getting a little frustrated. We feel like there's a little bit of piling on right now" (AP, 2/20).
