At a time when skeleton racer Michelle Kelly hoped to be closing in on Olympic qualification, the former world champion is instead facing questions about equipment that has been declared ineligible on three occasions.

Kelly, who won the 2003 World Championships and finished 10th at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, was pulled from competition last week in Cesana, Italy after skeleton's sport federation raised concerns about her sled's runners in a pre-race inspection.

In an about face after the race, Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton reneged their position, explaining Kelly's omission as an "administrative error" that would "not impact the athlete's selection process for the 2010 Olympic team."

It was a third blow for Kelly who in October 2009 was disqualified from a World Cup team qualifying race when inspectors concluded her runners had been altered. Again, in Lake Placid, Kelly's equipment failed a pre-race inspection.

BCS CEO Don Wilson did not immediately return phone calls Tuesday, but told the Toronto Star that he had mistakenly pulled Kelly from the Cesana race, not realizing at the time that the move would handicap the team's chance to be one of only two nations to qualify three female athletes for the Games.

Concerns raised about equipment prior to a race do not lead to the automatic disqualification of an athlete. Wilson told the Star that the third time questions about Kelly's runners arose, he was being prudent to remove her from the start list. 

"It's non-actionable if it happens before a race. But it was my decision to pull her from that race. I thought it was in Michelle's and BCS's best interest to figure out what is going on and why this is happening," Wilson said.

The difficulties raised in Cesana have underscored tensions on the team which can be traced to last October's disqualification. Kelly denied the allegation that her runners had been altered, explaining that her coach had sanded a portion of the sled damaged in a collision.

The 35-year-old Fort St. John-native was readmitted to October's World Cup team qualifying race on the equivalent of a technicality, renewing her hope to make the Olympic team. Kelly, however, remained without vindication for any wrong-doing from BCS.

Kelly has not commented on the latest suggestion that her equipment in Italy was altered, but earlier in the year lamented that her integrity had ever been questioned.

"That was the toughest part. It was my character coming under attack, my integrity,'' said Kelly in November.

"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.''