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Nov
24
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Tough day for American men in Whistler
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Nov 24, 2012,
8:38 PM ET
Contact: Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Director
(518) 354-2250, abird@usbsf.com
Tough day for American men in Whistler
WHISTLER, British Columbia (Nov. 24, 2012)- Matt Antoine (Prairie du Chien, Wisc.) was the top U.S. finisher in Whistler’s men’s skeleton World Cup race tonight. Antoine finished 15th, while teammates John Daly (Smithtown, N.Y.) and Kyle Tress (Ewing, N.J.) finished 19th and 24th, respectively.
“We’ve got a fairly new World Cup team since 2010, and our goal is to get these guys confident on every track,” said U.S. head coach Tuffy Latour. “We’ll struggle on some, do well on others, but it’s all just building momentum towards World Championships this year. That’s the ultimate outcome, and this is just a means to the end.”
Antoine is just months into his rehabilitation program since having surgery to repair a partial tear in his patella tendon. He set a goal of top 10 performances this season, and fell just short in Whistler. Antoine had a decent first run, but a hit out of corner 10 in the final heat prevented him from moving up. His total time of 1:49.19 put him in 15th place.
Antoine will get a chance to seek redemption in Whistler next week while competing in the Intercontinental Cup. He’ll break from the World Cup team to continue his rehabilitation, and will rejoin the circuit after the holiday break.
“Matt will build strength back and will be back second half even better,” Latour said. “We expect big results from him at World Championships if he can build back to 100 percent from his surgery.”
Frank Rommel from Germany has been attempting to overhaul Latvian Martins Dukurs from the leader board this season, and he finally succeeded today. Rommel was victorious by 0.21 seconds with a total time of 1:47.19. Dukurs, nicknamed “Superman” for his dominance in the sport, showed he was human today. Dukurs was in the lead after the first heat, but a critical mistake at the exit of corner six bumped him into second. Tomass Dukurs was third with a two-run total of 1:47.64.
Daly couldn’t find time down the track tonight. The 2010 Olympian was thrown off tempo after bumping the wall before corner one in the first heat. Daly hoped to put together a solid second run to move up, but a late exit out of corner six decelerated his sled. Daly clocked a combined time of 1:49.73 for 19th place.
Tress was the first competitor off the start and struggled when the start groove veered him towards the left wall after loading onto his sled. Tress’ problems compounded and he was nearly off his sled at the exit of corner four. He was unable to find enough time down the course to crack into the top 20 to qualify for a final run. He clocked a time of 55.88 seconds for 24th place.
The men’s skeleton race concludes the Whistler World Cup. The tour will briefly break before meeting again in Winterberg, Germany for races from Dec. 7-9.
Please contact Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Director, at abird@usbsf.com or 518-354-2250 with media inquiries.
Results:
1. Frank Rommel (GER) 1:47.19 (53.70, 53.49); 2. Martins Dukurs (LAT) 1:47.40 (53.62, 53.78); 3. Tomass Dukurs (LAT) 1:47.64 (53.90, 53.74);…15. Matt Antoine (USA) 1:49.19 (54.64, 54.55);…19. John Daly (USA) 1:49.73 (54.84, 54.89);…24. Kyle Tress (USA) (55.88, 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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