Skeleton

EDMONTON - Skeleton racer Michelle Kelly says she just wants to get back to sliding after enduring three of the most miserable weeks of her life, being accused - then exonerated - of cheating.

"That was the toughest part. It was my character coming under attack, my integrity,'' said Kelly in an interview Friday from Calgary.

"There were days I wasn't really eating or sleeping or functioning. My whole world was put on hold.

"This (sliding) is what I love to do, but my integrity was coming under attack. I wanted to clear my name just for that.''

Kelly - a former World Cup champion and Olympian who finished 10th in Salt Lake City in 2002 - was disqualified Oct. 20 after the first instalment of World Cup team selection races in Whistler, B.C.

A post-race inspection found the steel runners on her sled had been altered, presumably for competitive advantage.

The disqualification put Kelly too far down the rankings to make either the Canadian squad for the World Cup or the Intercontinental Cup team, which is the sport's top developmental circuit.

That was a death blow to the 2010 Olympic dream for the 35-year-old from Fort St. John, B.C., because Canada's Olympic sliders will be picked from those two squads.

After the disqualification, Kelly said she went to work to prove she had not doctored her sled.

To ensure no slider has a technological advantage, all skeleton sliders must race on the same steel runners, purchased from the international governing body, the FIBT (Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing).

The runners have lasered-on FIBT seals that must not be altered. Any alteration is deemed to have been done for competitive advantage and punishment results.

Kelly said during early runs at Whistler last month her sled hit cement on the track and one runner was scratched along the side.

"Normally you wouldn't sand on the side (of it), but my coach wasn't sure if it was going to hit the ice or not. So better safe than sorry.''

She said the coach used some very harsh sandpaper to get the runner smooth again, likely inadvertently scratching and altering the seal, which was then caught in the post-race test, leading to disqualification.

Kelly said she thought the laser seals were inviolate.

"I took an old runner because I had to see for myself, and in about 45 seconds I was able to remove a marking with very fine sandpaper.

"It was a shock to me and a good warning because I would have never been cognizant of the fact you could remove these.''

She had third party expert examination done on the sled, which, she said, showed that the runners were consistent in hardness, chemical composition and dimensions with other skeleton runners.

Also, she said, microscopic tests of the markings showed they had been scratched in a way that resembled sanding.

On Tuesday, a three-member appeal panel of the governing body Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton overturned the disqualification, citing not the runners, but the fact that the judges who disqualified her didn't have the power to do so.

Three judges have to inspect a sled to rule on it, but Don Wilson, CEO of Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton, said two judges had left early that day to make travel connections to get home. Wilson has said the problem has been rectified for future events.

It was the sports equivalent of beating a charge by getting off on a technicality, but Kelly said she still feels like she had her day in court.

"I had a quite a few reasons for why this wasn't right. I can't speak on why the panel chose the reason they did, but I think it's hard the way things are written in the rules.''

She was reinstated Tuesday and told to get on a plane immediately to Park City, Utah, where the World Cup season was starting Thursday.

She packed, caught a few hours sleep, flew early Wednesday to Utah, went from the airport right to the track, changed on the start dock and started sliding for the final two of six training heats.

She was eighth on her first run and had to calm herself down.

"I (told myself) 'I fought for this so I might as well do the best I can.'''

There were hard feelings, she said, as the return pushed other Canadian sliders down the chain of competition.

"I feel bad for everybody because it affects everyone and that was never what I wanted. I wanted what was right and have the spot I'd fought for and earned.''

She won the second training heat and on race day finished fifth, part of a strong showing by the Canadian women. Fellow slider Amy Gough was second and Mellisa Hollingsworth, the Olympic bronze medal winner in 2006, was third.

Heavy snow cancelled the second race, so fifth place stood.

"I'll take fifth against a world class field,'' said Kelly.

"I hadn't been on the sled for a little bit and had not been doing my proper training.

"I was very happy just to get down and prove to myself I could still be among the world's best.''