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CNN Live At Daybreak

Skeleton: Little Known Olympic Sport Has First Woman Competitor

Aired February 08, 2002 - 05:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now let's head back to the Olympics. Athletes are gearing up to go for the gold. Among them, are athletes who will compete in a sport many of you probably haven't even heard of. It's called skeleton, and it's only appeared twice in the Olympics in 1928 and in 1948 and only by men, until now.

CNN's Mark Viviano takes us for a ride with Olympian Lee-Ann Parsley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK VIVIANO, CNNSI CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The skeleton, close up and in-your-face speed. Lee-Ann Parsley's assessment: thrilling.

LEE-ANN PARSLEY: Getting your car up to speed on the interstate at 80 miles an hour, opening the door and sticking your head out about two inches above the cement and feel that kind of a rush. It's the speed. It's almost indescribable.

VIVIANO: The 33-year-old Parsley has put her thrill seeking to good use away from competition as well. She's been a firefighter since the age of 16. In 1999, she was named Ohio Firefighter of the Year after helping save two people from a burning house. Parsley was working toward a spot on the Olympic team when the events of 9-11 hit home.

PARSLEY: One of the first few things I did that day was to call home. Just talked to my lieutenant, talked to some of the guys just to hear their voice. A couple of them are involved in the Ohio Urban Search and Rescue Team. So I knew there was a good chance they were going to be leaving, and I just wanted to talk to them before they left, wish them good luck and be careful.

VIVIANO: Parsley was training for the U.S. bobsled team when she discovered skeleton. The life-long athlete decided to jump in, literally head first.

PARSLEY: Thank goodness, being that new, I didn't really know any better, so I just hopped on and took off.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: Wow. That looks so awesome, doesn't it? It makes those luge guys look like wimps. You can see more about Lee-Ann on CNN's "People in the News" Olympic special. That airs tomorrow morning at 11:00 Eastern Time and Sunday night at 8:00 Eastern Time.

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