Canada's Anderson, Spring go on Olympic-sized rants after rough results
By CBC Sports
Canadian snowboarder Jasey-Jay Anderson and bobsleigh pilot Christopher Spring didn't mince words after tough outings at the Winter Olympics Saturday in South Korea.
Anderson failed to qualify for the snowboard parallel giant slalom, finishing 24th. In a post-race interview, the 2010 gold medallist in the event blamed course conditions in the first run alleging it wasn't being maintained.
"I have two setups: one for if it's bumpy, that one [I rode], and one for if it's clean. And I expected it to be clean because, it's the Olympics," Anderson told CBC Sports post-race.
"They just did a terrible, terrible job maintaining it. You see people on TV with rakes? They should be using them, and they're just leaning up against them. So, there's nothing I can do."
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Speaking to a Radio-Canada reporter, Anderson admitted he made a mistake which killed his run, but also criticized his coaches.
"Honestly, I was expecting a well-maintained course. I just never expected that they wouldn't groom it, and unfortunately my coaches didn't pick up on that," Anderson said in French.
"There's one that just starting with us and they don't really know what to look for. So it's hard. You can't blame anyone else but the organization and I imagine at a certain point I want to take the blame. But I was ready."
'It's a frustrating sport'
Spring didn't lay blame on his 15th-place performance after the first two heats in the four-man bobsled, but he did go on a rant about how frustrating the sport can be.
"You put down a run that you're proud of, and the time doesn't reflect that. The first run was dog slow, you know? There's no chance we can be that slow! It's a frustrating sport, you know, when your performance isn't always reflective at the bottom," Spring said.
"It's bothered me sometimes here and there, and sometimes it's great! Sometimes you get to the bottom and you're like 'Oh sweet! We're fast! How did that happen?' But on days when you're slow, and surprised how slow you are, it makes me wonder.
"I've often said, the reason why I will leave this sport is because of [expletive] like this."
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Later to Radio-Canada, Spring continued after being asked to reconfirm whether he was happy with his day.
"No. Like, I'm happy when I throw a Frisbee and my dog catches it. I'm happy when I wake up out of bed and my hair's looking sweet," Spring said.
"This is insane, man. This isn't bobsledding! It's frustrating, that's all."
