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Answering your questions
Skeleton athlete Chris Soule, 28, is training for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. Soule, who won the first round of U.S. national team selection races back in October, is a two-time national champion (1997, 2000) and finished second on the 2000 World Cup circuit. The 6-foot native of Trumbull, Conn., spent time as a stunt player on the film G.I. Jane and currently works as a research assistant. Check out Soule's diary on CNNSI.com as he trains for the Olympic. October 30, 2001
Why wasn't skeleton an Olympic sport between 1948 and 1998?
That's a good question, Miguel. There are lots of different stories, so I am not exactly sure why skeleton was not included in any of the Olympics after the '48 Games, although I can tell you how it got into the Games in 1928 and 1948 Olympics. The story goes that loggers used their sleds to tow timber head-first down the hill with their single-person sleds. They then made tracks for people to race on and refined sliding enough to have competitions. The host nation of the Olympics in both the '28 and '48 Games was Switzerland, where the people had a history of racing skeleton (in the form of cresta riding). The Heaton brothers from the U.S. won medals while the sport was included in the Games.
Do you use mental visualization techniques to practice for your races?
I usually practice going down the track before I even get to the track, after each run and when I leave the track through visualization, so in other words -- all the time. Mental preparation is one of the biggest keys to sliding well. When you get to the line and know exactly what you want to do, you have a better chance of pulling it off as opposed to than to going into a run blindly. There was a study done years ago with basketball players to show what type of role visualization plays in sport. Three groups of college basketball players did three different types of training. One group shot free throws for an hour every day, the second group didn't use physical basketballs but instead visualized making free throws for an hour, and the third group didn't do anything at all. The group that did nothing didn't improve at all, but the group that visualized making free throws advanced almost as much as the group that actually shot the free throws for the same amount of time. When it comes to racing to hundredths of a second, I will take all the mental and physical advantages that I can have. I practice both. Thanks for the question, BgL.
Where do luge and skeleton racers get their helmets? How can I obtain one?
Lugers have different helmets than skeleton athletes. From what I understand, lugers usually order their helmets through their federation. If you plan on trying luge, you can contact the U.S. Luge Federation in Lake Placid, N.Y., about acquiring a helmet and getting started. The helmets that skeleton sliders use are ski racing or snowboarding helmets with chin guards. They can be found at most ski shops and are fairly inexpensive (if you consider that it is basically saving your melon). We modify our helmets and attach a face shield to make it easy to see and to stay as aerodynamic as possible.
Just a note-living in the flatlands, I'd never heard of your sport. Sounds
pretty crazy but I admire your determination. Best of luck and I'll be
cheering for you!
Thank you, Kat. It's wonderful to get such a great response and so much support. We are all representing our country as best we can and are trying as hard as we can to bring home the gold in this year's Olympics. Thanks for your interest. -- Chris
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