Contact: Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Manager
(518) 354-2250, abird@usbsf.com
USA-1 leads after day one of four-man racing
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (Feb. 25, 2012)–Steven Holcomb (Park City, Utah) and his USA-1 push crew of Justin Olsen (San Antonio, Texas), Steve Langton (Melrose, Mass.) and Curt Tomasevicz (Shelby, Neb.) are just 0.01 seconds from making history again. The crew leads by the length of an eyelash after the first day of four-man bobsled World Championships at Mt. Van Hoevenberg.
“After two miles of run, to be one-hundredth ahead is pretty amazing,” Holcomb said. “Its hard to fathom."
USA-1 came from behind to take the lead after the first two heats. Despite posting the fastest push time, the crew was 0.15 seconds behind the pace set by German Maximillian Arndt. Olsen, Langton and Tomasevicz once again powered the BMW sled to the fastest start time, and Holcomb threaded together a smooth ride down the course to put the team 0.01 seconds ahead of Arndt with a two-run total of 1:48.92.
German Manuel Machata was tied with Russian Alexander Zubkov for third after the first run, but Machata was able to pull ahead by 0.15 seconds to secure the team in third position with a total time of 1:49.20.
“I made some mistakes and we can make up some more time,” Holcomb said. “I knew that the Russians and Germans were going to come out strong. I knew it wouldn’t be like a couple years ago where we just walked away with the title. I’m happy to be going into tomorrow with the lead but we can’t get ahead of ourselves, we’ve got to go back and focus and make sure everything is ready.”
USA-3 of Nick Cunningham (Monterey, Calif.), Jesse Beckom (Chicago, Ill.), Johnny Quinn (McKinney, Texas) and Dallas Robinson (Georgetown, Ky.) are in 14th place with a total time of 1:50.56 after day one. The crew had impressive push times of 5.04 and 5.10 seconds for runs of 55.21 and 55.35 seconds, respectively.
“Right now, the guys are doing great,” Cunningham said. “I’ve been given the push crew to win this thing and they are stepping up. I’ve just got to figure out me now. I need to work on these runs to get back in the mix. I am driving backwards and that is never really what you want to do. I’ve really got to step it up. The track is beautiful. I love this place, we’ve got the home field advantage I just haven’t taken advantage of it yet.”
National Guardsman John Napier (Lake Placid, N.Y.) and his USA-2 squad of Chuck Berkeley (Walnut Creek, Calif.), Adam Clark (Owenton, Ky.), and Army soldier Chris Fogt (Alpine, Utah) had a heartbreaking conclusion to their season today. The team was in the running for a top six performance after sliding a first run of 54.75 seconds, but the team had trouble loading into the sled at the start in the second in the second run. Clark’s foot slipped off the bunk, and he was unable to successfully pull himself into the sled. The team was disqualified for not having all four competitors in the sled and will not compete in tomorrow’s final.
“I felt the crew moving around and I heard some scraping, so I knew there wasn’t a guy in there,” Napier said. “Our first push we had a few errors and we were looking to correct those in the second run. I am a solider, and I have seen soldiers come back from making mistakes, so I know that Adam Clark will make his best effort next year. It is a blessing to represent my nation here and I am just really discouraged that I couldn’t do more for the soldiers who are out here and for our federation; it’s frustrating. We’ll come back strong for team trials and there will be nothing stopping team Napier.”
Clark is competing in only his first year in the sport. An hour after the competition, Clark posted on Facebook that “my heart is broken for my team. I’d give anything to have it back.”
Racing continues tonight with the men’s skeleton final two runs at 5 pm before the World Championships conclude at 9 am tomorrow with the final four-man heats. For media inquiries, please contact Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Director, at abird@usbsf.com, or at (518) 354-2250.
Results:
1. Holcomb, Olsen, Langton and Tomasevicz (USA) 1:48.92 (54.34, 54.58); 2. Arndt, Roediger, Kuske and Putze (GER) 1:48.93 (54.19, 54.74); 3. Machata, Huebenbecker, Bredau and Poser (GER) 1:48.93 (54.38, 54.82);….14. Cunningham, Beckom, Quinn and Robinson (USA) 1:50.56 (55.21, 55.35);…Napier, Berkeley, Clark and Fogt (USA) (54.75, DSQ);
About the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation
The United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. The USBSF would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, United States National Guard, Kampgrounds of America, National Strength and Conditioning Association, Vivat!, Global Forwarding, KBC Helmets, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, EDAS/Ripxx, UberSense, Tesa Tape and Ferris Mfg. Corp. For more information, please visit the USBSF website at http://bobsled.teamusa.org.
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