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Although he still faces a suspension after testing positive for a banned substance at a World Cup race earlier this season, Salt Lake City slider Zach Lund has been given a provisional Olympic skeleton spot by the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation.
Orem bobsledder Shauna Rohbock, a former Brigham Young track and soccer star, was also among nine athletes awarded Olympic spots Sunday by the USBSF, while Orem's Noelle Pikus-Pace, the 2005 overall World Cup champion in the women's skeleton, is among the alternates for the lone spot allocated to the U.S. in the 15-woman field.
Pikus-Pace, who missed the first half of the season with a compound leg fracture suffered when she was hit by a runaway bobsled in Canada, will compete only if Katie Uhlaender, who is the top American woman in the World Cup standings, can't compete.
The nine-member U.S. men's bobsled team will be announced by the USBSF today.
Lund was No. 1 in the World Cup standings in men's skeleton before missing last weekend's event in Germany, and has been overtaken by Canada's Jeff Pain. Lund's attorney, Howard Jacobs, said his client should find out today from the Montreal-based World Anti-Doping Agency whether his “B” sample taken in November confirms the “A” sample which tested positive for finasteride, considered a masking agent by WADA. Lund acknowledges having taken the hair-restoration product Proscar, which contains finasteride, but says he didn't know it has been on the list of banned substances since February 2005.
“Zach Lund is one of the most talented pilots on tour right now, no question,” U.S. assistant skeleton coach Greg Sand told The Associated Press. “It's got nothing to do with him using something to help male-pattern baldness.”
U.S. sliders Kevin Ellis and Eric Bernotas were also given provisional status on Sunday. If Lund is not cleared by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the U.S. Olympic Committee will probably give his spot to former Olympian Chris Soule or Caleb Smith, the 2003 world junior silver medalist in skeleton.
Lund's attorney said he will seek arbitration if Lund's B sample confirms the A sample, which is expected, and hopes to have a hearing before USADA by Jan. 23.
The U.S. bobsled team also includes 2002 gold medalist Vonetta Flowers, who became the first black athlete to win a gold medal when she teamed with Jill Bakken to take first in the Salt Lake City Games on USA-2. Flowers will slide with driver Jean Prahm, who was known by her maiden name, Jean Racine, four years ago when she entered as a gold medal favorite but failed to medal.
Rohbock, a Mountain View High graduate, will team with Valerie Fleming in piloting the top U.S. sled, ranked second in the current World Cup women's standings.