Edmonton student Olson misses 50-yard field goal and $1-million prize

TORONTO - Edmonton's Steven Olson has a new appreciation about the pressure a football placekicker faces.

With 25,352 spectators cheering him on, the 25-year-old University of Alberta physics student failed to hit a 50-yard field goal that would've earned him $1 million in the Wendy's Kick for a Million contest Friday night.

"The tempo was a lot different from what I had to do before," he said. "The crowd just kept getting louder every time I approached (the ball)."

Olson made the attempt at Rogers Centre during halftime of the Toronto Argonauts versus Hamilton Tiger-Cats CFL game Friday night.

In 2005, the first year of the contest, Brian Diesbourg, a 25-year-old mechanical engineer from Belle River, Ont., successfully made a 50-yard field goal to win the $1-million top prize.

Olson didn't go home empty-handed.

His 50-yard attempt went 30 yards, earning him a cheque for $30,000. Olson said he's going to put the money towards a downpayment on a house in Edmonton.

Olson tried kicks from 20, 30, 40 and 50 yards, with a chance to earn prizes for each successful boot. He was wide right from 20 yards out (kicking for $20,000 in electronic equipment); was low from 30 yards out (with a new Nissan convertible up for grabs); and short from 40 yards out ($100,000 cash).

"I thought I was comfortable between 25 and 30 yards," he said. "Tonight just wasn't my night.

"I wanted the electronics or the car. I figured I'd win at least one of them."

Olson qualified for the final by downing Paul Sinisi of Ajax, Ont., 170-165 in semifinal action Thursday at Rogers Centre.

Under this year's new contest format, both participants attempted six kicks from distances of their choice, ranging from 15 to 50 yards. They were awarded points equal to the distance of each successful field goal, with the final attempt being worth double the points.

The six-foot, 215-pound Olson and three other participants were randomly selected from 7.8 million total online entries. That's nearly three times the number of entries received last year when the contest recorded its previous high of 2.8 million entries.

Olson, a former high school football and basketball player, submitted 1,189 entries.