Contact: Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Manager
(518) 354-2250, abird@usbsf.com
World Cup wraps up first half in Winterberg, Germany this week
WINTERBERG, Germany (Dec. 12, 2011)–The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup tour continues in Winterberg, Germany this week. Races will take place from Dec. 16-18 before the tour pauses for the holiday.
Women’s skeleton kicks off the event at 9 am local time on Dec. 16 followed by men’s skeleton at 12:30 pm. Races continue on Dec. 17 with women’s bobsled at 9 am and men’s two-man bobsled at 2 pm. The event will conclude on Dec. 18 with the four-man bobsled race at 9 am.
The U.S. team hopes to carry momentum from their success in La Plagne, France last week. Men’s bobsled pilot Steven Holcomb is second in overall World Cup standings. He and his USA-1 teammates Steve Langton, Justin Olsen and Curt Tomasevicz hope to catch current points leader Thomas Florschuetz to wrap up the first half of the season at the top of world ranking.
USA-2 pilot John Napier has had a slow start to the season and is currently 13th in combined two and four-man rank. He’ll look to better his start times in Winterberg to move up into the 10 before the break.
Women’s bobsled pilots Elana Meyers, Bree Schaaf and Jazmine Fenlator are expected to podium this weekend. Meyers is currently seventh in points, while Schaaf and Fenalator are ranked 11th and 12th, respectively.
The women’s skeleton team is soaring after a successful race in La Plagne, where Annie O’Shea and Katie Uhlaender claimed silver and bronze. The last time an American woman earned a World Cup medal was in Feb. 2009, when Uhlaender finished second in Park City, Utah. O’Shea moved into fourth overall after her podium finish. Since Uhlaender missed the first World Cup event while competing in a weightlifting meet, she is in 15th position. Kimber Gabryszak has struggled with finding consistency over the last two weeks and is ranked 20th going into this weekend’s event.
Matt Antoine moved up in the men’s skeleton standings after posting a fourth place finish in La Plagne. Antoine is seventh in points, while teammates Kyle Tress and John Daly are ranked 20th and 27th, respectively.
The Intercontinental Cup tour also continues this week in Sigulda, Latvia with a double race series from Dec. 17-18. Athletes from both tours will return home on the 19th for the holiday break before World Cup sliding action resumes Jan. 6 in Altenberg, Germany.
The IBSF will provide LIVE streaming for World Cup events on their website at www.fibt.com. Universal Sports will also broadcast the events with commentary and interviews on one-week delay. Programs will air Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at 6 pm EST.
For media inquiries, please contact Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Manager, at abird@usbsf.com, or at (518) 354-2250.
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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