Is Kim Meylemans facing a new challenge from rising stars in Germany and Great Britain?
Kim Meylemans continued training today, improving on yesterday’s results with a 7th and 8th place finish, but still trailing the top competitors from Germany and Great Britain. Have these two nations potentially gained an edge over medal contender Meylemans with new equipment?
“She shouldn’t be afraid of that,” says colleague and Sporza commentator Colin Freeling. “The British have invested £5 million in their sled, and the Germans have a sled with a design we’ve never seen before.”
Kim Meylemans was impressed during free practice in Cortina d’Ampezzo on Tuesday, as Germany and Great Britain dominated the top times, a trend that continued today. Have these two countries pulled ahead in speed with new innovations?
“all the sleds are nearly the same,” explains skeleton racer Colin Freeling, who is serving as a commentator for Sporza during the Games.
“There are a few setups you can change, regarding your body balance on the sled or the runners. Those runners are like tires on a car – you have different ones for cold and warm ice.”
“The Germans have more opportunities to test all of these things leading up to the Games. They have five tracks in their own country, giving them much more ice time. As a foreigner, you have to reserve a track to test things out.”
“the Germans have financial resources and a long history in the sport. They have a lot of expertise in building the perfect sled.”
That sled is developed by FES, a company with close ties to BMW. “That’s also an advantage, as they can utilize their engineers and wind tunnels.”
Kim Meylemans during training.
Cut Garden Hose
Anne de Jong, reporting for Dutch broadcaster NOS, was surprised to hear discussion surrounding the German and British sleds.
“That’s not a topic of conversation here. There’s very little talk between the skeleton athletes. Everyone is in their own world.”
“It’s not as if I saw Kim Meylemans looking over at the German sled.”
“What I did see, though, was one of the German teams protecting the sled’s runners with a cut garden hose. If they’ve already spent a lot of money on their sled, they certainly didn’t spend much on protecting it.”
Colin Freeling also isn’t concerned. “I think Kim is still in a good position. She was already performing well in the test event in Cortina. She’ll have already created a rough sketch of the setup there. I think she’s just playing around with it now.”
Will the millions invested by the Germans and British make the difference? “The athlete is still the most important thing. They can’t make any mistakes. Kim is strong at consistently delivering four solid runs at major competitions. She doesn’t demand to be afraid of the Germans.”
I saw the Germans protecting their runners with a cut garden hose. They certainly didn’t spend much money on that.
Anne de Jong (NOS)
