updated 7:54 p.m. ET Feb. 20, 2006

CESANA, Italy - Forget the skeleton scandals. The U.S. racers were simply slow.

In one slider’s case, that meant finishing behind such winter-sports hotbeds as Bermuda, Ireland, South Africa and Australia. The best the three embattled Americans managed was sixth.

No one could have blamed the three U.S. racers if they came off the track Friday night claiming controversy dragged on them: Their coach left in a sexual-harassment scandal. Their best medal shot was booted in another. Their federation stands on shaky ground.

But after a season of discontent, Eric Bernotas, Kevin Ellis and Chris Soule took their Olympic failure upon themselves.

“I think that I had my chance and I can’t blame anyone other than myself for not getting it done at the right time,” said Soule, a last-minute replacement who only beat a stocky Lebanese slider and a Croatian.

No medals, no whining, no excuses.

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“Right now, yes, it is a little hard to swallow,” said Bernotas, who was sixth. “But I’ll find the positive in all this to propel me forward and gain strength from it and come out stronger the next time.”

Canada came in talking of sweeping gold, silver and bronze; the top two would have to do. Duff Gibson took the gold after finishing the two-run event in 1 minute, 55.88 seconds. He was 0.26 seconds ahead of Jeff Pain, and Switzerland’s Gregor Staehli was another 0.66 seconds back for bronze.

Bernotas’ time was 1:57.19, Ellis was 17th in 1:59.21 and Soule 25th in 2:01.23.

“I felt a little strange on the sled so maybe there was a little bit of discomfort,” Soule said. “But I just didn’t pull it off today.”

Strange and discomfort — two words apropos of the wacky season.

Accusations of sexual harassment against coach Tim Nardiello started the out-of-control trip down the proverbial mountainside in December, and the trip picked up steam when top men’s racer Zach Lund was suspended for failing a drug test. And the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation now will probably face a restructuring of some sort because the problems got so completely out of hand.

“Other federations have gone through the same turmoils, you know?” said Jim Shea Jr., the gold medalist at the Salt Lake Games in 2002. “The best you can do is stand on your own two feet, and say hey, we’re going to do the best we can and we’re going to change things around. You deal with what you have. The great sliders fall down a lot, but they always get back up.”

Power of positive thinking aside, this was hardly the result the Americans came in wanting.

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After the first run, Ellis — who finished fourth in the World Cup rankings — was 14th. Forget being 0.03 seconds out of the lead; he was that much behind Tyler Botha. That is, Tyler Botha of South Africa, which has — count ’em — three athletes at the Turin Games.

“This season really hasn’t been that tough,” said Ellis, who wound up four spots ahead of Botha. “But definitely, today was a tough day for me sliding. The experience was great. I wouldn’t give it up for anything.”

Soule, who was here replacing Lund, is a former silver medalist at the world championships. But at the Olympics he was beaten by, among others, wall-bouncing Korean Kang Kwang Bae and Patrick Singleton, from Bermuda.

“It’s been a long trip for us and the team has really stuck together,” Soule said. “We’ve been resilient and we’ve been able to come out and put our best foot forward, regardless of the situation. It just shows that our team is really unique ... as far as us being able to get through a season in such controversy.”

Bernotas was the lone American in medal contention by the end, but was a bit slower in the second run than his first and couldn’t make up enough time to crack the top three.

Still, he said afterward that he was at peace with the season.

“I felt good. I felt confident. I made a critical mistake up top and it was a critical spot for speed,” Bernotas said. “I gave it my best. My journey alone and what I’ve gone through, I’m pleased with the way things developed. I hope people see that and are inspired to follow their own dreams.”

Each of the racers were asked afterward if they were happy to see the season of torment end — and each said no. Even assistant coach Greg Sand, part of the coaching staff that’s endured every hit the program took all season, said he’d give anything to get his racers one more Olympic shot.

“I’d be all right to start fresh next season,” Sand said. “But we’ve got a good team. We’ve got a solid team. People forget that. And I’d love for one of our guys to have two more runs right now.”

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