I Feel The Need To Share This Story Right Down To My Skeleton

This is Noelle Pikus-Pace. She's our female racer in Skeleton. She won 4th place in the Olympics. She is a mom and is awesome. She got really hurt before the 2006 Torino Olympics. After all Skeleton is a dangerous sport right? I mean you go down the ice head first on a little tiny board. Accidents are bound to happen. And here, right here is where this story enters the land of whackadoo and caused me to shout at my television in disbelief. And you thought Bush knew a little something about shock and awe. Well, get ready for this little diddy.

So Noelle was training in 2005 and looking like a huge contender for Torino. Then, disaster struck. She was practicing in SLC. She stepped out onto the track and was fixing something on her sled when OUT OF NOWHERE she gets run over by a four man BOBSLED. She didn't crash going head first at 80 MPH down the ice. No. She got run over by a random 4 man bobsled. It hit her leg and took her out. She had to have surgery and pins and screws and a rod in her leg. She was told she wouldn't walk for 3 months. She was told she wouldn't race for almost a year if she was lucky. She was back on the ice in 6 weeks. She missed the Olympics so she took some time off to have a baby. She fought her way back and raced last night in Vancouver. I could not stop yelling at the TV every time they pointed out a mistake "BUT SHE GOT HIT BY A BOBSLED!!!"

Let me spell out how freakadeek this accident is. It would be like a long jumper running down the path and leaping into the air when WHAMO!... out of nowhere a speeding discus crashes into her leg and takes her out! Or imagine the girls snowboard competition going on when all of a sudden out of nowhere, Body Miller comes through the half pipe going 90MPH and takes out one of our chicks? This just doesn't happen right? "SHE GOT RUN OVER BY A BOBSLED!!!"

For some reason I can't get over it. I watched bobsled last night and the whole time I was looking for random skeleton athletes on the track. Can you imagine Bob Costas with the play by play "And they go into the last and final turn. Their run is looking good. They are on a world record pace. The speed is incredible folks and OHHHH NOOOO !!! They have run over a person!! Too bad. I really thought they had it!"

This story has been my defining Olympic moment so far. It is my Kerry Strug, my Apollo Anton Ohno, my Michael Phelps 4 man relay gold medal race. It's just going to stay with me. I told Mike that I bet the bobsled was driven by Tonya Harding. "Why? WHYYYYY?"

I am a sicko. "BUT SHE GOT HIT BY A BOBSLED!"