Bobsleigh

Four years ago, skeleton racer Mellisa Hollingsworth made her first trip to compete at the Olympic Winter Games.

Flying into Italy, she was on top of the world. She had finished on the podium in every World Cup race that year to win the overall World Cup title and she was fresh off a bronze medal in Altenberg, Germany.

From the airport, she was loaded onto a bus that would take her the rest of the way to the building that would be her home for the next three weeks: the athletes' village.

"It was so exciting," Hollingsworth, of Eckville, Alta., said. "You kind of feel like you're in your horse-drawn carriage and being dropped off at your castle."

Hollingsworth watched with shining eyes as the gates of the village approached.

Then it was like somebody had forgotten to reign in Cinderella's horses.

"The bus just roared past the village and dropped us off at the main square," Hollingsworth said with a laugh.

The bus was already a good 10 minutes away from the village. Nobody on board spoke Italian. In broken English, the driver told the athletes, coaches and equipment crews, "Get your bags and get off."

"We had to sort of tromp through the snow to get our bags and get back there," Hollingsworth said.

Wednesday, speaking on the phone from the 2010 bobsleigh and skeleton Olympic team announcement in Calgary, Hollingsworth said she can already tell that her 2010 Olympic experience will be a bit different as Canada begins to embrace the Olympic spirit.

Earlier that day, in front of 700 screaming Calgary school children decked out in red and white, Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton announced the 18 athletes that will compete in the bobsleigh and skeleton events at the Olympics in Whistler next month.

The kids took turns announcing each athlete. Then the crowd screeched and strained to give the athletes high fives as they ran up to the front of the gymnasium to the theme from Mission Impossible to receive their official Olympic team jackets.

When Jesse Lumsden, the newest member of the World Cup bobsledding team, ran up to the front of the room it was like watching the parting of the red sea. The small kids got their high fives, then moved back to let the hulking Edmonton Eskimo running back get by.

Pierre Lueders, named to his fifth Olympic bobsleigh team Wednesday, said the announcement was a great way to be sent to the Olympics.

"Unfortunately, we didn't get quite this kind of a send off announcement in '06 or '94 because we were already in Europe," Lueders, of Edmonton, said. "It's great to see the excitement and see the little students and the little people getting so excited about the Olympic Games."

Joining veteran Lueders in the Canada-2 sled will be three Olympic rookies: Lumsden, of Edmonton, Neville Wright, also of Edmonton, and Justin Kripps of Summerland, B.C., will all compete at the Games for their first time in February.

"They bring a lot of professionalism, they've all competed in big events, and they are more than willing to give whatever they need to, to be successful no matter what position we're putting them in," Lueders, 39, said of his young crew.

Lueders himself is the most decorated bobsleigh pilot in history, having earned two Olympic medals and seven world championship medals since beginning as a bobsleigh pilot in 1991.

Now, less than three weeks ahead of the Olympic Opening Ceremony, he says having a team of young pups reminds him of his earlier days in the sport.

"It's a long time ago now but for sure, you can tell when you look around at some of the faces you can tell there is some nervousness, some of the guys are a little big quieter than normal and some of them are a little bit louder than normal and some of the girls, as well," Lueders said. "Everyone handles the emotion and the stress aspect a little bit differently but I think it's something that's an enjoyable time and it's going to be exciting."

In the Canada-1 sled, Lyndon Rush of Humboldt, Sask. will pilot Lascelles Brown of Calgary, Chris Le Bihan, also of Calgary, and Edmonton's David Bissett. Rush earned his first three World Cup medals this season to finish sixth overall in the two-man circuit and eighth overall in the four-man.

Kaillie Humphries was named pilot of the women's bobsleigh Canada-1 sled, Wednesday. The Calgary athlete finished second overall this season and will compete at the Olympics with Heather Moyse of Summerside, P.E.I., while Helen Upperton, also of Calgary, will race in Canada-2 with Shelley-Ann Brown of Pickering, Ont.

After the athletes were announced on Wednesday, Hollingsworth took the time to speak to the kids about leading a healthy lifestyle and dreaming big.

"It was just such a great place to have our announcement because that's where we all started," Hollingsworth said. "Our Olympic journey started in a school gymnasium and obviously living healthier lifestyles through sport and recreation and that's what we're trying to promote," she said.

Also named to the skeleton team were Olympians Calgary's Jeff Pain and Michelle Kelly of Fort St. John, B.C. Making their Olympic debuts in Whistler will be Amy Gough of Abbotsford, B.C., Jon Montgomery of Russell, Man., and Mike Douglas of Toronto.