US Speedskating Team 2014 Blaming Suits For Disarrayed Winter Olympics Campaign? Player Think Their Underperformance Is In The Uniform
The US National Speedskating Team is racing against time to win a medal in the ongoing Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Halfway through their campaign, they haven't won a medal and the culprit, their suits made by Under Armour. According to reports, players are looking at every possible reason why they are on the verge of finishing their quest in the worst possible way. They are now picking on their uniforms.
"I know everyone's working around the clock to try and fix the problem," said, Glenview's Brian Hansen, who finished ninth in the 1,000 meters Wednesday. "If the entire U.S. team is underperforming compared to our potential - literally everyone - you can only look at so many factors. Is it the suit? Is it our preparation? "The suit's the easiest thing to fix."
Before the Olympic Event, Under Armour's defense contractor Lockheed Martin explained how the new suits will give Americans an advantage on the track. He said that the skin suit, called March 39, was meant to "shave precious hundredths of a second off their times at the Sochi Olympic Games." Mach 39 took two years to be fully developed, which includes more than 300 hours of wind-tunnel testing with mannequins.
Fast forward to the 'real' event, the results seem to be different from what everyone expected. The best finish that the US team had was at seventh place courtesy of Heather Richardson. Tucker Fredricks, who is considered the top pure sprinter in the country, finished 26th.
"For whatever reason, right now, we're getting skunked," said a disappointed coach Ryan Shimabukur.
"I really don't know. I'm at loss for words right now. Definitely didn't expect (this). Competition writes its own story. ... Results are on the board."
While the bomb is on the uniform, players still think that it shouldn't be to blame, insisting that they have better personal record as compared to last edition.
"I would like to think that it's not the suit. I would never blame the suit. I'd much rather blame myself. I just wasn't able to do it today, but other people were," Shani Davis said.
