USA Bobsled and Skeleton
Contact: Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Manager
(518) 354-2250, abird@usbsf.com
Rollercoaster season continues for U.S. men’s skeleton team
WHISTLER, Canada (Feb. 3, 2012)–After a successful week of training, the U.S. men’s skeleton team was disappointed with their World Cup results in Whistler, Canada tonight. Matt Antoine (Prairie du Chien, Wisc.), who earned his first ever World Cup medal in Whistler three years ago, was the top U.S. finisher in 14th.
“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs this season,” said Tuffy Latour, skeleton head coach. “We’ll take the downs now as long as the ups come in Lake Placid for World Championships later this month.”
Antoine was on track for medal position in today’s race, but extra height at the exit of corner six rolled him onto his shoulder at the exit. Antoine’s first run of 54.60 seconds was only good enough for 18th position, and the veteran was visibly disappointed at the finish.
“He had a great run going, but his timing was off in corner six,” Latour said. “He was pretty bruised after the crash, but he was eager to come back in the second run and perform. He’s medaled here before, so he knows what he is capable of on this track.”
Antoine refocused between heats and slid to the finish a full second faster in his funal run. His combined time of 1:48.20 moved him up four positions into 14th place. As Antoine walked off the track he looked apologetically at the camera and said, “I’m sorry.”
“Matt came back with a solid second run,” Latour said. “Unfortunately, this is too short a track to catch up to more people than he did. We’ll move into the final World Cup now and hope to keep building up to Worlds.”
Latvian Martins Dukurs won once again tonight to earn six out of seven available World Cup victories so far this season. His two-run total of 1:45.76 was 0.75 seconds ahead of German Frank Rommel and Russian Alexander Tretiakov, who tied for second with a total time of 1:46.51.
USA’s Kyle Tress (Ewing, N.J.) made a few small mistakes that multiplied down the course and was unable to find time before crossing the finish. Tress posted a two-run total of 1:48.20 for 15th place.
Greg West (Orange Beach, Ala.) was named to the national team in only his second year in the sport this fall and spent the first half of the season on the Intercontinental Cup tour. West was granted an opportunity to make his World Cup debut today, and the developing athlete finished just three spots from qualifying for a final run after clocking 55.90 seconds in the first heat.
“Kyle continues to chip away at the points,” Latour said. “Greg is an outstanding team player. He gave up his spot on the Intercontinental Cup tour so John Daly could earn extra points, and he walks out of here with a solid race.”
Men’s two-man bobsled is up next, and you can watch the action live by visiting www.fibt.com. For media inquiries, please contact Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Manager, at abird@usbsf.com, or at (518) 354-2250.
Results:
1. Martins Dukurs (LAT) 1:45.76 (52.70, 53.06); 2. Frank Rommel (GER) 1:46.51 (53.17, 53.34); 2. Alexander Tretiakov (RUS) 1:46.51 (53.23, 53.28);…14. Matt Antoine (USA) 1:48.20 (54.60, 53.60); 15. Kyle Tress (USA) 1:48.70 (54.49, 54.21);…23. Greg West (USA) (55.90, 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, 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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