Advertisement
Sports Now

Skeleton athlete Katie Uhlaender remembers her dad, Ted

By Helene Elliott
Sports ColumnistFollow
Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

You don’t have to be a fan of Olympic skeleton -- or even know what the sport is about -- to feel for Katie Uhlaender and understand her conflicting emotions about competing while her father, Ted, battled multiple myeloma.

Ted Uhlaender, a former major league outfielder who spent parts of eight seasons with the Twins, Indians and Reds, died on Thursday. Katie learned of his passing after she won a silver medal in the final World Cup event of the season.

Advertisement

She had some very touching things to say, and it’s worth a visit to the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation’s website to read more.

-- Helene Elliott

Sports Now
Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

Advertisement