Contact: Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Manager
(518) 354-2250, abird@usbsf.com
World Cup bobsled and skeleton racing resumes in Altenberg, Germany
ALTENBERG, Germany (Jan. 3, 2012)–Many U.S. bobsled and skeleton athletes rang in the New Year while en route to Altenberg, Germany to kick off the second half of the World Cup season.
“I got on a plane and when I landed it was 2012,” Matt Antoine wrote on his Facebook page. “Off to begin the second half!”
Altenberg has a unique history and is still one of the most challenging courses on tour. The track was constructed in 1981 under restrictive access in an effort for the East German team to win more medals. The difficult course has snarled medal hopes for many of the world’s best drivers, but the U.S. team hopes to start the New Year on the podium.
The men’s skeleton event will kick-start the second half on Friday, Jan. 6th at 9 am local time, followed by women’s bobsled at 1:30 pm. Competition continues on Saturday, Jan. 7th with women’s skeleton at 9:10 am and men’s two-man bobsled at 3:30 pm before concluding on Sunday, Jan. 8th with the men’s four-man bobsled race at 9 am.
USA-1 men’s bobsled pilot Steven Holcomb and his crew of Steve Langton, Justin Olsen and Curt Tomasevicz hope to surpass German Thomas Florschuetz in combined points to take the overall World Cup lead. USA-2 driver John Napier and a pool of push athletes that includes Chris Fogt, Jesse Beckom, Johnny Quinn, Adam Clark and Dallas Ronbinson will join USA-1 in the race for the podium.
Bree Schaaf and Emily Azevedo will be the sole U.S. women’s bobsled team entered in the Altenberg race. Rookie pilots Elana Meyers and Jazmine Fenlator are training in St. Moritz, Switzerland, which will host the 2013 World Championships, in a strategy to increase the program’s strength leading up to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Meyers and Fenlator will rejoin the World Cup circuit next week in Koenigssee, Germany, where they’ve already raced earlier this season in the Europa Cup series.
The U.S. skeleton team will field a full roster that includes Annie O’Shea, Katie Uhlaender and Kimber Gabryszak for the women and Matt Antoine, John Daly and Kyle Tress for the men. The team hopes that O’Shea and Uhlaender’s 2-3 finish and Antoine’s fourth place result first half will provide momentum for additional podium finishes second half.
The Altenberg World Cup also doubles as the European Championship, giving European athletes an added incentive to win. Watch the Altenberg event LIVE by visiting 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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