Bobsled team of Racine, Davidson split

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- U.S. women's bobsled pilot Jean Racine replaced longtime partner Jen Davidson just before the Olympic trials and will race with first-year brakewoman Gea Johnson.

Racine, of Waterford, Mich., and Davidson, of Layton, Utah, have competed together for three years. They became two-time overall world champions and won more than 20 World Cup medals.

Women's bobsledding is making its first Olympic appearance in Salt Lake City in February.

Racine and Davidson appeared in credit-card commercials, posed for glamour shots and the "Got Milk" campaign and have earned more than $500,000 in endorsements, according to their agent, Evan Morgenstein.

Johnson proved herself in Europe this year with U.S. pilot Bonny Warner. Warner and Racine are tied for third in the world rankings.

Racine said the coaches had been angling all year to see what Johnson could do in Racine's sled.

"I'm sliding with Gea for no other reason than she's the fastest brakewoman," Racine told The Salt Lake Tribune from Calgary, Alberta, before World Cup races this weekend. The Olympic trials are next week in Park City.

Johnson and Racine had the best push-start times in training Thursday.

"Jen and I struggled at the start all season," Racine said. "She being my best friend, we were wanting to make this work ... but the start just wasn't coming together," Racine said. "It just came to a head where I needed to make some changes now or I knew I wasn't going to."

Davidson said she was in her motel room in Calgary, sanding the team's runners, when Racine walked in and said simply, "Gea's my brakeman."

Davidson said she feels Racine strung her along, hurting her chances of being picked up by another pilot.

"The part that upsets me most is that there was a push-off (between brakewomen Wednesday) and she told me not to participate -- that I didn't need to, and in essence what that did was eliminate me from being able to push for another driver because they hadn't seen any numbers," Davidson said.

Racine said she offered Davidson a chance to push off against Johnson, "which she decided not to take."

Related information
Stories
Miller's two wins raise expectations for Salt Lake City U.S. romps Sweden in women's hockey exhibition
Multimedia
Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.