The U.S. bobsled team featuring Elana Meyers of Douglasville is facing a major obstacle one day before it is supposed to race.
Driver Erin Pac was diagnosed with a strained hamstring Saturday. Although she's expected to race with Meyers on the USA-2 sled, Pac's effectiveness is in doubt.
"Unfortunately, she is in a great deal of pain and unsure what percentage she'll be at for race day in one day's time," Meyers posted on her blog early Monday.
Meyers, 25, titled her post "The Hamstring Monster," noting she and other American bobsledders dealt with their own hamstring pulls leading up to the Olympics. The injury, Meyers explained, affects the push at the start of the run.
"At this track, the push is especially important and we need every hundredth we can to win a medal and the hamstring monster wants to make this as difficult as possible," she wrote. "Coming into these games, we were one of the fastest push teams in the world, but a hamstring injury will most likely slow us down a bit. A slower push greatly decreases our chances of a medal, but I'm not losing hope!
"Erin is a trooper and I know that she'll do everything she can to push as well as possible, and we'll work with it and compete. We still have a chance, the race has yet to begin, and there's always hope, as long as you still believe and I do. I honestly do."
Meyers concluded: "THIS HAMSTRING MONSTER IS NOT GOING TO TAKE OUR OLYMPICS!!!"
Pac has not missed a training run. But it was unclear if all three U.S. sleds would participate in the final training session Monday. The women's bobsled competition consists of two runs on Tuesday and two on Wednesday.
"Mentally I need to clear my head. If I can do that, I'll be fine," Pac said in a statement. "I'll have lots of family here and it's great to have the support I need in a tough time. I'm not giving up."
Meyers, a college softball standout and the daughter of former Falcons running back Eddie Meyers, is the only Georgia athlete at the Games. She made the national team as a brakeman her first year, 2007, and kept rising fast in the sport.
Six family members traveled to Vancouver to watch her race.
Meyers posted this on her Facebook page: "Team Pac has been thrown a bit of a hurdle! Please pray for Erin's health!"
--The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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