SALT LAKE CITY - Zack Lund, a Judge Memorial Catholic High School 1998 graduate, closed out his 2010 Vancouver Olympics skeleton competition with a fifth-place finish.
Lund entered the final two runs of the four-run competition in eighth place, only 0.14 seconds out of third place with the third best time in the second run. After the final run, he missed receiving a medal by 0.52 seconds behind gold medalist Jon Montgomery of Canada. Martin Dukurs from Latvia won silver with a time of 52.61 and Alexander Tretyakov from Russian Federation won bronze with a time of 52.70.
Lund was grateful to have proved he could compete in the 2010 Olympics after being kicked out of the Torino Games in 2006 for a controversial doping violation. In the Torino Olympics he was labeled a drug cheat after being tested just before the 2006 opening ceremony because of his usage of a hair-restoration drug. Before using the product, he did not check to see if it complied with anti-doping rules. Which it didn't.
Lund said in a recent interview with ESPN that he has learned that going through all this controversy has made him who he is now. He's bald, having shaved his head instead of trying to regain the mullet he had during his youth. As a result, HeadBlade announced a one-year endorsement deal with him in late February, so his 2006 misfortune is paying off.
Lund was ranked No. 1 in the world at the time he tested positive for finasteride. He was among the gold-medal favorites in the Torino Games. He won three World Cup medals that season, even with the possibility of a suspension because of the positive drug test triggered by finasteride, a steroid-masking agent in the hair product that was on the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list. It no longer is after studies showed it wouldn't mask anything. He was stripped of his second-place finish in the Calgary World Cup event after testing positive for this medication, and a one-year suspension was issued on Feb. 10, 2006. He returned to win the overall World Cup title in 2007 and began to pursue his Olympic dream. When Lund was 15, he made a promise to his mother, who passed away after a two-year battle with skin cancer, to always follow his dreams.
In 2008 he finished 11th in the World Cup, and in 2009 he was 13th in the World Cup.
In 2010, Lund finished the World Cup season ranked 13th, with only one top-five finish, a fifth-place on his home track in Park City in the series opener. He finished an average of 13th in his other seven races, and he was no better than 14th in any of the season's final three races.
Going into 2006, it was medal or nothing. He would have loved to have medaled in the 2010 Olympics, but that will not be the deciding factor in whether or not his career was a success. He is proud of himself and is content with what he has been able to accomplish. Lund spent the 2010 off-season working out at a specialized gym, getting stronger and leaner than at any point in his life. He met his goal and made it to the Olympics.
Now Lund is talking about trying to get on the public speaking circuit when his days as a slider end, with hopes that his story can motivate someone. He also hopes to fly forest-fire sludge bombers when he retires from sliding.
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