July 21, 1996
James Ransom got on a bus to nowhere
By CHRIS STEVENSON -- Team Sun
ATLANTA -- Fencer James Ransom might have had a chance against Mike Marx of the USA with an epee in his hand, but he was no match for a frazzled bus driver with a poor grasp of geography.
Ransom's Olympic dream was over before it began yesterday when the bus driver transporting him to the individual epee event got lost, finally delivering him to the Georgia World Conference Centre just 10 minutes before his bout.
Colder than a can of Coke, he went out and lost 15-9 to Marx.
"I showed up and I hadn't even been thinking about fencing because I hadn't had time to get focused," said the 25-year-old from Nepean, who was competing in his first Olympic Games.
"Suddenly I'm out of the tournament."
Ransom wasn't expected to win a medal or anything -- he was seeded 35th in a field of 42 -- but it was hoped he would be able to get some experience in the cauldron of Olympic competition.
Now his overriding memory of the Atlanta Games will be riding a bus to nowhere.
Ransom has become another living, breathing example of the inefficiency of the Games' transportation system and the frustration it can cause.
The U.S. baseball team, according to one report, showed up at the baseball stadium eight minutes before its game against Nicaragua.
"We were on our way to the wrong place," said Ransom.
"This venue is the World Conference Centre and we were going to the International Centre or something. We were about halfway there when somebody said, `Is this the right way?'
"Our bus driver was pretty upset. I thought she was going to cry."
Ransom could have cried himself and nobody would have blamed him.
At the very least, an athlete should expect to be delivered to his competition site on time. After that, it's up to him.
But Ransom was robbed of that chance, despite persistent complaints about the transportation system in the days leading up to the Opening Ceremony.
Traffic jams are one thing and there's not much you can do about them.
It's not too much to expect the drivers to know where they should be going, especially when their cargo are young people who have worked the last few years -- many of them most of their lives -- for the chance to compete in the Olympics.
They've travelled long and difficult roads only to be get sidetracked by an incompetent transportation system in the final stretch, just miles from completing their journey.
The bungling drivers have Canadian Olympic Association officials scratching their heads, trying to patch the holes.
"We're definitely having a problem in the transportation area," said COA spokesperson Lorraine Lafreniere.
"We have five or six cars and we're trying to supplement the Games transportation system because they're not meeting the needs of our athletes.
"We have to make sure they're getting where they have to be when they have to be.
Ransom's frustrating day was the strangest endured by Canada's fencers, but they all ended up the same way: Eliminated after their first bouts.
Montreal's Jean-Marc Chouinard, an outside shot at a medal, fell to Germany's Mariusz Strzalka 15-12, while Ottawa native Dan Nowosielski -- who said he was on the same bus as Ransom, but managed to shake it off -- blew a 12-9 lead to lose to Cuba's Ivan Trevejo Perez 15-14.
Nowosielski was asked if he choked.
"Of course I did," he said. "I was winning and I lost. I wasn't nervous. I was relaxed. That's exactly what happened. I choked.
"It's a bitch, but it'll give me a lot of motivation for the team event (Tuesday) since I screwed up here. It's no one's fault but mine."
With the score tied 14-14, Nowosielski said he hesitated between two actions, leaving the door open for Trevejo Perez to score the winning point.
To his credit, Ransom didn't use the bus fiasco as an excuse.
"I can't say it was fair or unfair," he said. "I can't do anything about it."
After investing so much time and money getting him to Atlanta, the Canadian Fencing Federation should invest another $20 bucks and hail him a cab Tuesday.
And make sure the driver knows where he's going.
