Skeleton

Amy Gough's lucky charm comes with a cow.

It's a green baseball cap with a cow on the front next to a Co-Op logo, and it used to belong to a guy she thought was a farmer, except he wasn't. He was a computer geek. Still is. Only now, Dan Steffler is the computer geek and personal benefactor who has helped put Gough on the launch pad to her dreams.

Without Steffler, Gough wouldn't be shooting for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Without Gough, Steffler wouldn't be having so much fun. It's been a partnership of the strangest kind but, as Steffler said from his Vancouver office, "It's allowed her to pursue her dreams. And her results, they've put me over the moon."

This is the story of the skeleton racer, an old acquaintance and a shared vision sealed with a green ball cap with a cow on it. Most everywhere Gough travels, trains and races, the hat goes with her because it came from Steffler and represents their unique relationship.

The big-hearted Steffler is the owner of Dan-U-Teccct Industries, a company that deals in computer-room installations. He's also the father of the boyfriend Gough used to date in high school when she was 15. Gough, born in Abbotsford, B.C., had gone 15 years without contacting the Stefflers and was working as a full-time production assistant with Husky Oil in Calgary when she answered the phone one day and heard, "Hi, this is Dan Steffler."

Gough remembered him as the suspender-clad "farmer" in the green ball cap. He recalled her as "an aimless teenager." The deal, explained Steffler, was that his brother-in-law at True Energy was sponsoring Melissa Hollingsworth and Steffler was interested in sponsoring someone, too. That's when Gough's name came up, a name Steffler had pretty much forgotten about until he saw it in the sports section of The Province newspaper in Vancouver.

That call and Steffler's offer of financial support helped propel Gough from talented athlete to one of Canada's top female skeleton racers.

"It was so hard before," said Gough, who this week placed second to Hollingsworth at the 2009 Canadian championship. "I'd be up at six to work eight hours till 5 p.m. then drive to the Bob Niven Training Centre [at Canada Olympic Park] in rush hour, workout from 6:15 p.m. to 9 p.m. Get home, eat and be in bed by 10 p.m. That's hard. I couldn't do the workouts I needed and work at a desk all day."

Steffler's offer of full support (he won't say how much that is) allowed Gough to quit Husky and train full-time. It was a splendidly timed initiative since Gough was beginning to lose ground.

In 2006-2007, she competed on the World Cup tour as a rookie, managed five top-10 finishes and was seventh in the overall standings. The next two years, she raced on the notch-below Intercontinental Cup circuit and did well but understood she needed a big push if she was going to get back to the World Cup and the 2010 Olympics.

That the push came from the dad of an ex-boyfriend fit well with how Gough first got into skeleton - solely by fate. Gough was supposed to be on a double date the night she attended a Discover Skelton session at Canada Olympic Park. When the other woman in the group didn't show, Gough found herself on a skeleton sled halfway up the track.

"I wasn't going to go down on my own," she said, but did anyway. "The volunteers hold your legs then chuck you down. All they said was, ‘Lie like a sack of potatoes.'."

She flew; she loved it. From there she went to skeleton school and began learning her trade. Three years later, in 2005-2006, she reached the podium in every Europa Cup event she entered to finish fourth overall.

After her breakthrough World Cup season, Gough figured there would be nothing but smooth racing from start to finish. Getting bumped down to the Intercontinental Cup loop and not being able to train as much as she needed put her at a crossroads.

Then came the call from the guy in the green ball cap and the relaunch began.

"I've been full-time training since June of 2008. That's when Dan came on and it's made a huge difference," said Gough, who needs a strong showing before Christmas on the World Cup trail to stamp her Olympic ticket. "It's been really hard on me but the dominoes are falling in place now."

To honour Steffler, Gough has a Dan-U-Tec sticker on her sled and has been carrying the green ball cap with her around the world. Steffler, who follows Gough's results and calls her when he can, said the lesson here is about giving help to those athletes who most need it.

"I told Amy I wanted her to change her thinking from 'I'm a production assistant' to ‘I'm a full-time athlete.' I'm just so proud of her accomplishments. It's been worth every penny I've put into it."