Dec 09

USA-1 concludes Winterberg World Cup in sixth

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Contact: Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Director
(518) 354-2250, abird@usbsf.com

USA-1 concludes Winterberg World Cup in sixth

WINTERBERG, Germany (Dec. 9, 2012)-Steven Holcomb (Park City, Utah), Justin Olsen (San Antonio, Texas), Steve Langton (Melrose, Mass.) and Curt Tomasevicz (Shelby, Neb.) concluded the Winterberg World Cup 0.14 seconds shy of the medals.  USA-1 clocked a total time of 1:50.55 to finish sixth in a tightly contested race for gold.

USA-1 bulldozed through the falling snow to post identical start times of 5.12 seconds in the two-heat race.  The BMW sled broke away into a skid, but Holcomb managed to keep the crew within 0.07 seconds of the medals with a first run time of 55.24.

“I made a mistake in a crucial part of the track that is flat,” Holcomb said.  “It wasn’t a major mistake, but it slowed us down enough.  We don’t have accelerators, so it’s not like I can just step on the gas to make up time.”

Holcomb pieced together a clean second run, but USA-1 was unable to shed the extra hundredths down the course.  The top U.S. team posted a combined time of 1:50.55 for sixth.

“The guys gave me another great push,” Holcomb said.  “I fixed my mistake and drove well, but so did everyone else.  You can just hang out at the bottom and hope someone else makes a mistake when the field is this close, but unfortunately we weren’t able to take back any spots today.”

Alexander Zubkov remains unbeatable in four-man this season.  Zubkov teamed with Alexey Negodaylo, Dmitry Trunenkov and Maxim Mokrousov for a total time of 1:50.06 to continue his season sweep.  Maximilian Arndt piloted GER-3 to a silver medal with a two-run total of 1:50.25, while Oskars Melbardis navigated LAT-1 up two positions in the final heat to claim bronze with a combined time of 1:50.41.

Nick Cunningham (Monterey, Calif.) teamed with Chris Fogt (Alpine, Utah), Adam Clark (Owenton, Ky.) and Andreas Drbal (Belmont, Calif.) for 12th place in their first four-man bobsled competition on a European track.  The crew was in 13th after a first heat of 55.58 seconds, but the crew bettered their getaway at the start by 0.05 seconds to help USA-2 move up one spot with a combined time of 1:51.21. 

Cory Butner (Yucaipa, Calif.) again teamed with Johnny Quinn (McKinney, Texas), Jesse Beckom (Chicago, Ill.) and Nic Taylor (Hayward, Calif.). The crew clocked a start time of 5.29 seconds, and a few bumps against the wall early in the run cost USA-3 time down the course.  Team Butner crossed the finish in 56.09 seconds for 24th position, 0.11 seconds short of qualifying for a final run.

The team is packing sleds and driving to La Plagne, France for the fifth stop on the World Cup tour. 

“I’m not sad to leave Winterberg,” Holcomb said.  “I’m metaphorically driving blind on this track since my driving style doesn’t apply here.  But La Plagne is a beautiful place and the track is fast and fun.  Not a lot of people have had much time on that track, so it’ll level the playing field.  It’s a technical course, so I expect we’ll be back in the mix next week.”

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) 1:50.06 (55.02, 55.04); 2. Arndy, Mann, Roediger and Putze (GER) 1:50.25 (55.01, 55.24); 3. Melbardis, Dreiskens, Vilkaste and Dambis (LAT) 1:50.41 (55.23, 55.18);…6. Holcomb, Olsen, Langton and Tomasevicz (USA) 1:50.55 (55.24, 55.31);…11. Cunningham, Clark, Drbal and Fogt (USA) 1:51.21 (55.58, 55.63);…24. Butner, Beckom, Quinn and Taylor (USA) (56.09, 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, Vivat!, Global Forwarding, KBC Helmets, 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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