Contact: Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Manager
(518) 354-2250, abird@usbsf.com
Uhlaender sixth in Altenberg to lead U.S. team
ALTENBERG, Germany (Jan. 7, 2012)–The women’s skeleton World Cup event in Altenberg, Germany was reduced to a one-heat contest after the jury cancelled first run results due to heavy snowfall. Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.) relied on her nine years of sliding experience to challenge the Germans on their home track despite unfavorable weather conditions.
“Everyone is on the receiving end of bad weather at some point,” Uhlaender said. “When you get a good result, you have to handle it gracefully. When you’re on the receiving end of bad weather, you have to handle it the same way. All I can do is control what I am doing, and I did the best I could.”
Snow began to fall again during the second heat just prior to Uhlaender’s run. Despite the changing weather, Uhlaender slid a clean run to finish sixth with a time of 1:00.34.
“I was hoping for a top three finish, but this adds fuel to the fire for next week,” Uhlaender said. “It feels good to be back on a sled after a two week break.”
Anja Huber led the race from start to finish after pushing off the block in 5.66 seconds and finishing in 59.87 seconds, one-tenth faster than teammate Katharina Heinz. Shelley Rudman’s smooth run of 59.99 seconds was good enough to earn bronze for Great Britain.
Annie O’Shea (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) posted the second fastest start time and navigated the difficult Altenberg track to the finish in 1:01.64 for 12th. Kimber Gabryszak’s (Park City, Utah) time of 1:01.72 put her in a tie for 14th place for her best finish of the season so far.
“The team did a good job of coming together today and staying positive,” Uhlaender said. “We can’t control conditions, so we went out there and did our job. I’m proud of our team.”
Watch the Altenberg events 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.
Results:
1. Anja Huber (GER) 59.87; 2. Katharina Heinz (GER) 59.97; 3. Shelley Rudman (GBR) 59.99;…6. Katie Uhlaender (USA) 1:00.34;…12. Annie O’Shea (USA) 1:01.64;…14. Kimber Gabryszak (USA) 1:01.71;
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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