Tuesday, February 19, 2002
Turcotte is really bummed
By STEVE BUFFERY -- Team Sun
SALT LAKE CITY -- Canadian short track star Mathieu Turcotte, he of the sore buttocks, has the absolute worst injury for Saturday's 5,000-metre relay, an event they call the tush push.
Turcotte won the Olympic bronze medal in the men's 1,000-metre event last Saturday under very bizarre circumstances, scrambling to his feet after a four-man crash and sliding home baseball-style for a third-place finish.
In the process, he opened a gash on his buttocks that needed six stitches.
HEALING
And while it apparently is healing -- this reporter didn't insist on visual confirmation -- the buttocks may be too sore for Turcotte to compete in the 5,000 relay on Saturday -- an event the powerful Canadian team excels in.
"I hope I can race, but I have a really huge bruise on my bum where the stitches are," said Turcotte, a native of Sherbrooke, Que. "We'll wait and see and probably make a decision after practice (today)."
In short track relay, the skater who is finishing his leg pushes his relief man from behind for extra speed.
The 1,000 was won by Australian darkhorse Steven Bradbury, the only skater of the five in the final who didn't crash. American star Apolo Anton Ohno was second.
2002 Games Short Track Speed Skating Coverage
