Smithtown's Daly finishes in 17th place in men's skeleton
John Daly of Smithtown brakes in the finish area after competing in the first heat of the men's skeleton competition at the Vancouver Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia. (Feb. 18, 2010) Credit: AP
Smithtown's John Daly finished 17th in men's skeleton Firday night.
Canada’s Jon Montgomery won the gold medal, edging Latvia’s Martins Dukurs.
Montgomery completed his four runs down the Whistler Sliding Center track in 3 minutes, 29.73 seconds. After finishing his last run, he waited at the finish area and watched as Dukurs, who had been nearly flawless in the first three heats, bumped the wall after the final curve.
Dukurs finished in 3:29.80. Russia’s Alexander Tretyakov was third in 3:30.75.
Dukurs had dominated the World Cup tour all season and was within feet of winning his country’s first gold in the winter Olympics when he made the costly mistake in the final curve and slammed hard into the exit of turn 16.
Daly was in 17th place after the third heat before the final run of the evening.
Daly, sliding in the 18th position in the third heat, had the third best time through the starting shoot and the fifth best through the first timing interval, but lost ground to the field from there.
His time of :53.23 was 1.08 seconds slower than leader Martins Dukurs of Latvia, but it was Daly's fastest of his three heats. His times were :54.08 and :53.65 for the first two heats on Thursday.
"There was a lot of hype and nervousness and it was nice to get it out of the way," Daly said in remarks released by the U.S. Skeleton & Bobsled Federation following Thursday night's heats. "It's definitely something to get used to. This is awesome. It's the Olympics and I'm here and I'm happy."
Daly, 24, is an Olympic rookie who spent a brief time on the elite World Cup tour last fall.
American Zach Lund was in the fifth place after the third heat and in contention for a bronze medal. The third American, Eric Benotas, was in 15th place.
British woman wins
Amy Williams won the gold medal in women's skeleton, becoming Britain's first individual Winter Olympic champion since figure skater Robin Cousins 30 years ago.
Williams finished four runs in 3 minutes, 35.64 seconds. Germany's Kerstin Szymkowiak won the silver, and another German, Anja Huber, won the bronze.
- AP
