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Monday, February 18, 2002

By Lori Shontz, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

SALT LAKE CITY -- Jean Racine's side of the story goes like this: She has scraped and scrimped and sacrificed for a decade in pursuit of an Olympic gold medal -- her late mother even sold chocolate door-to-door to raise money -- and when something threatened to prevent her from contending for a medal, she had to get rid of it.

	Jean Racine "I made the change, and I am very glad I did." (Douglas C. Pizac, Associated Press)

Even if "it" was her best friend and bobsledding partner, Jen Davidson.

"There were moments where I thought, 'I could just bring my best friend to the Games. We wouldn't win, but I could do it,' " said Racine, the pilot, who drives the sled. "But that wouldn't have been right. So I made the change, and I'm very glad that I did."

Davidson's side of the story is a bit different. Her Olympic dream dissolved in late December, and it's all Racine's fault because Racine kicked her out of the sled too late for her to find another partner for the Olympic trials.

"She deceived me the entire season," said Davidson, the brakeman and therefore the muscle, in late December. "Then she dumps me right before the trials."

Ten days before, to be exact. Racine replaced Davidson with Gea Johnson, a former heptathlete who in 1994 received a four-year suspension because she tested positive for anabolic steroids. It was later overturned by a federal judge, although the stigma has remained.

At the Olympic trials, which were on the Olympic track at Utah Olympic Park, Racine and Johnson set a track record. Racine was sure she had made the best decision.

But now Johnson has a hamstring injury, and although U.S. Bobsled officials said yesterday they expect her to compete, if she can't go the only eligible person to replace her is Bethany Hart.

Even if Johnson competes, Racine could be in trouble. After dropping Davidson because her push times were about a 10th of a second slower than the front-running Germans, Johnson's best time Saturday in practice was 6.32 seconds. The German sleds posted times ranging from 5.40 to 5.55.

Racine needed to consider more than push times and friendship when she made her choice. "Jean and Jen," as they were marketed, reportedly had about $500,000 in sponsorship deals. They starred in a Visa commercial. They are pictured in a "Got Milk?" ad and a Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats box.

But the two had struggled this season, unable to recapture the speed and power that propelled them to silver medals at the 2000 and 2001 world championships and 23 consecutive international victories. As other countries paid more attention to their teams, preparing for the women's Olympic debut, Davidson's push times became too slow to stand up.

Racine and Davidson opened the season with fourth- and fifth-place finishes at the first two World Cup races, the first and second times they had failed to medal in international competition. Once they finished a career-low 11th.

The coaches say they did encourage Racine to make a change in her sled -- particularly when Johnson, the brakeman for driver Bonny Warner who picked up the sport only five months ago, began to turn in spectacular push times.

As the driver, Racine is essentially her team's coach. The U.S. national coaches make recommendations and provide data, but it is not their job to decide which athletes go into what sleds.

So the pressure fell on Racine, who did not make a decision until 10 days before the U.S. Olympic trials.

"If it was mine,I would have made the same decision," U.S. bobsled coach Bill Tavares said.

The bigger problem, as far as Davidson and eventually public perception were concerned, was that she dumped her partner not long after leaving a cheery phone message telling her not to worry about anything and that in 17 days, they would be members of the U.S. Olympic team.

Davidson has played the message for local radio shows.

So now Racine is known throughout the world as the woman so blinded by her pursuit of an Olympic gold medal that she dumped her best friend.

"I don't think the media focuses on the relationships and friendships when it comes to men in sport," Racine said. "I think it's understood that we all have a job to do, and it's a little bit easier for men to make those kind of changes than women."

One could argue that the change of partner is the least of Racine's problems.

Her mother, Cathy, the woman who sold chocolate door-to-door to raise money to send Racine on international trips died nine months ago of scleroderma, a disorder of the immune system and connective tissue.

A few weeks ago, her father, David, was arrested and charged with second-degree criminal sexual misconduct for an August incident with a 13-year-old girl who was visiting his younger daughter. David Racine has said he is innocent, but he is in jail. Racine's sister is in foster care. Racine said she hasn't spoken with her father recently.

There are little annoyances, too, such as the 102-degree temperature Racine was running at the end of last week and the fact that Davidson will be a forerunner -- one of the bobsledders who tests the course before the competitors start -- for tomorrow's competition.

"It's really surprising what you can make yourself handle when you don't have a choice," she said. "There were days that I said, 'How can I even compete?' But I'm here."