USA Bobsled and Skeleton
Contact: Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Director
(518) 354-2250, abird@usbsf.com
USA-1 ties for seventh to conclude racing in Germany
Koenigssee, Germany (Jan. 13, 2013)- Steven Holcomb (Park City, Utah) shook his head after crossing the finish line in today’s four-man bobsled World Cup, once again frustrated with his results in Koenigssee. Holcomb teamed with Curt Tomasevicz (Shelby, Neb.), Steve Langton (Melrose, Mass.) and Chris Fogt (Alpine, Utah) for two solid runs, but speed was elusive for USA-1. The crew’s total time of 1:38.73 tied them with SUI-2 for seventh place.
“I had four really good runs in these races and I’m happy with the way I drove, but something isn’t working,” Holcomb said. “I asked all of the coaches, even some from other nations, and everyone is kind of stumped. I don’t know what to fix if I don’t know what’s broken.”
Soldier-athlete Fogt joined Holcomb, Tomasevicz and Langton this week. The coaches are experimenting with different team combinations with the hope of creating three of the fastest push teams in the world. USA-1 was among the top teams off the starting block with push times of 4.83 and 4.84 seconds.
“We have a win-win situation because we have so many great athletes that we can assemble more than one solid team,” Holcomb said.
Holcomb navigated the BMW sled down the challenging course cleanly, but was unable to distance himself from the field. The team was in eighth position after a first run of 49.33 seconds, and despite another smooth run in the second heat, the team could only gain one spot.
“It’s frustrating,” Holcomb said. “We pushed well, I drove well, but we didn’t do well. I have to move on and can’t dwell on these races.”
Alexander Zubkov from Russia denied the Germans a gold medal on their home track by posting the fastest combined time of the day, 1:38.06. Maximilian Arndt was 0.20 seconds off the pace for second, while Thomas Florschuetz earned bronze with a two-run total of 1:38.36.
Cory Butner (Yucaipa, Calif.) teamed with Jesse Beckom (Chicago, Ill.), Adam Clark (Owentown, Ky.) and Johnny Quinn (McKinney, Texas) for commendable start times of 4.95 and 4.96 seconds. Butner piloted the WIDIA sled smoothly to the finish in both runs, but USA-3 couldn’t find any pockets of speed. The team clocked a combined time of 1:39.43 for 17th place, which betters Butner’s last four-man race result in Koenigssee by 11 spots.
Nick Cunningham (Monterey, Calif.) and his push crew of Justin Olsen (San Antonio, Texas), Andreas Drbal (Belmont, Calif.) and Dallas Robinson (Georgetown, Ky.) had high expectations today. USA-2 posted a competitive push time of 4.89 seconds to give the sled momentum at the start, but a major skid scrubbed any time they had gained at the top of the track. The crew’s finish time of 49.90 seconds tied them for 21st with CAN-2.
Today concludes racing in Germany as the tour moves on to Igls, Austria for the eighth World Cup of the 2012-2013 season. Check your local listings to watch coverage of the events on Universal Sports, or visit www.universalsports.com for race highlights.
Please contact Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Director, at abird@usbsf.com or 518-354-2250 with media inquiries.
Results:
1. Zubkov, Negodaylo, Trunenkov and Mokrousov (RUS) 1:38.06 (48.91, 49.15); 2. Arndt, Huebenbecker, Roediger, Putze (GER) 1:38.26 (48.97, 49.29); 3. Florschuetz, Bredau, Kuske and Blaschek (GER) 1:38.36 (49.09, 49.27);…7. Holcomb, Tomasevicz, Langton and Fogt (USA) 1:38.73 (49.33, 49.40);…17. Butner, Beckom, Clark and Quinn (USA) 1:39.43 (49.60, 49.83);…21. Cunningham, Olsen, Drbal and Robinson (USA) (49.90, DNS);
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, WIDIA, Vivat!, Global Forwarding, KBC Helmets, Azad Watches, Latta USA, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Autism Speaks, Park City Lodging, 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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