Edition: U.S. / Global

OLYMPICS: BOBSLED; Forgotten Team Gives U.S. Gold In the Bobsled

Published: February 20, 2002

More than two years ago, Vonetta Flowers's dream of making the 2000 United States Olympic track team died. After failing to qualify at the trials in Sacramento, she found a flier, posted on her hotel entrance: ''Wanted,'' it read, ''Versatile Athletes Interested in the Bobsled.'' Her husband, Johnny, handed it to her.

''Bobsled?'' she said. The couple, natives of Alabama, laughed.

Jill Bakken, 25, had been driving the sled circuit for eight years. Bakken, a former Oregon State soccer player, wanted a partner to push and brake for her, to finally reward her time and perseverance. She had no endorsements and no agent, not like some of the other rising stars in the sport.

Together, Bakken and Flowers sped down an icy hill at 80 miles an hour tonight, down the mountain at Utah Olympic Park on a sled with no distinction and almost no name. United States 2, they were called, and they were pretty much forgotten, consumed by the soap opera of Jean Racine and Gea Johnson -- United States 1.

By the time Bakken and Flowers reached the bottom, they had sailed into bobsledding history.

Upsetting two favored German teams and their United States teammates, overcoming the often ruthless, musical-chair world of their sport -- where pilots dumped brakewomen routinely for someone else -- the American women won the first gold medal in the women's competition.

Flowers, the only African-American woman competing at the 19th Winter Games, became the first black athlete to win a gold medal at a Winter Olympics.

''I didn't know I was the first,'' she said, wiping away tears as she sat next Bakken on the interview podium. ''I hope this won't be the end of it. I hope you'll see other African-American girls and boys who want to give winter sports a try because there are not a lot out there.''

She kept wiping away tears, apologizing for not finishing sentences by adding: ''I'm sorry. I'm so happy right now.''

Thought not to be better than bronze medal candidates at best going into the competition, Bakken and Flowers skidded to the fastest time in their opening heat, 48.81 seconds, then completed a swift ride in the second heat. United States 2 finished its two runs in 1 minute 37.76 seconds. The silver medalists, Sandra Prokoff and Ulrike Holzner of Germany, had a time of 1:38.06. Racine and Johnson finished fifth in 1:38.73.

Bakken and Flowers edged the German No. 1 team by three-tenths of a second and the German No. 2 team, Susi-Lisa Erdmann, the two-time Olympic luge medalist, and Nicole Herschmann, by 0.53 of a second.

A crowd of 14,900 stayed long after the final race, cheering and paying homage to the gold medalists as the Olympic anthem blared in the background. During the awards ceremony, the Germans lifted Flowers and Bakken off the ground as if they were college football coaches who had just won a national title.

Flowers and Bakken shoved the Racine saga out of the spotlight and essentially bailed out the American men, who have failed to win a bobsled medal in 46 years. Todd Hays's team was fourth in the two-man event.

Racine becomes the example of what can happen when a competitor will do almost anything to win a gold medal, including sever ties with her best friend. She dumped Jen Davidson three months ago as her brakewoman in favor of Johnson, the thickly muscled woman once banned from track and field for anabolic steroid use. Johnson walked to the news conference afterward on crutches, recovering from a hamstring pull that hurt her and Racine's chances.

''It's devastating,'' Racine said, tearing up. Racine spoke as Bakken and Flowers crossed the finish line amid fans, many of whom swung their American flags and chanted: ''U-S-A!''

Later, a desperate Racine confirmed that she had called Flowers and inquired about her status on Sunday, ''just to see where she was.''

''But she was happy with Jill,'' Racine said.

''Poor Gea, she was in so much pain today but she still pushed and gave everything,'' Racine said of Johnson's pulled hamstring.

Flowers was a victim of the there-has-to-be-someone-better-to-push-me club. Bonny Warner, a pioneer in the sport, recruited Flowers. It was her flier that Johnny Flowers handed to his wife two years ago, two days before she first tried out for the sport. But Warner went after Gea Johnson to become her brakewoman, leaving Vonetta Flowers out in the cold and contemplating her future in the sport.

''I wasn't doing anything until Jill called in October,'' she said, referring to Bakken. Bakken had Flowers and her former brakewoman engaged in a pushoff. Flowers won, displacing Bakken's partner of three years.

Johnson dumped Warner, the 33-year-old former luger, to ride with Racine. On the intrigue went.

Before she took up the sport, Flowers was a seven-time all-American at Alabama-Birmingham, where she competed in the long jump, triple jump and 100-meter dash.

''People in Alabama laughed when we told them,'' Johnny Flowers said. ''The old stereotypes came up. Black people don't like the cold, all that stuff. They couldn't understand if it wasn't related to Alabama football or basketball.

''But we never experienced any sort of racial bias or anything, no 'What's this black girl doing here?' If something comes out of this, I hope other races -- not just the black community -- takes up different sports and doesn't just do the things that people tell them they're good at.''

As his wife smiled through sobs in the background, Johnny added, ''All you got to do is grab a flier, go to Lake Placid and try out.''

Photos: Vonetta Flowers, left, and Jill Bakken were surprise winners in the first Olympic women's bobsled competition. (Vincent Laforet/The New York Times)(pg. A1); Jill Bakken, front, and Vonetta Flowers celebrating their victory in the bobsled. (Vincent Laforet/The New York Times)(pg. D2)