If there weren't enough twists and turns in the speeding world of skeleton athlete Michelle Kelly, this week has added a couple more.

The season-opening World Cup race at Park City, Utah was cut from two heats to one Thursday because of driving snow, wind and a problem with timing equipment. The cancellation left Kelly, 35, of Fort St. John, B.C., with the fifth fastest time, 51.50 seconds, behind Anja Huber (51.22) of Germany, Amy Gough (51.36) of Calgary, Mellisa Hollingsworth (51.37) of Eckville, Alta., and British slider Shelley Rudman (51.48).

Three Canadians in the top five at a World Cup event, less than three months from the 2010 Winter Olympics, is a good omen.

It was also respectable company for Kelly to be in at the first event of the Olympic season - especially since, at the start of the week, Kelly was suspended with no hopes of getting to the Games.

She was left off all national teams after a disqualification at team trials at Whistler, B.C., last month. A jury ruled the runners on her little sled did not conform to rules by having the appropriate markings on them. But a subsequent appeal found that the jury lacked a quorum - two of the three required volunteers were not present - and so, as suddenly as she had been banished, Kelly was reinstated.

"I feel vindicated and that justice was served because there was no performance enhancement, and I competed fairly against my teammates," Kelly said in a written statement. "All I want to do is focus on sliding, winning more medals for Canada, and focus on achieving my Olympic dream - which is thankfully still alive."

Kelly, a former World Cup title holder and Olympian, was reinstated in time to make it to the start yesterday of the World Cup sliding season at Park City - on a track where she had previously won a World Cup race. Kelly won the 2003 world championships and World Cup titles and finished 10th in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.

In the men's race, Martins Dukurs from Latvia dominated the competition, sliding the two fastest runs of the race, a 49.74 and 50.01, to win the first World Cup of the Olympic season with a combined time of 1:39.75. His margin of victory was more than a half-second over Sandro Stielicke of Germany with a cumulative time of 1:40.27. Third was 2008 world champion Kristan Bromley of Britain with a two-run total of 1:40.37.

Three Canadians qualified for the second run. Jeff Pain of Calgary tied for sixth with American Eric Bernotas at 1:40.63. Jon Montgomery of Russell, Man., shared ninth with German rookie Michi Halilovic at 1:40.71. Mike Douglas of Toronto was 15th at 1:41.30.