(L-R) U.S. men's bobsled national team members who comprised USA-1 in the national team trials, Chris Fogt, Steve Langton, Curt Tomasevicz, Steven Holcomb.
PARK CITY, Utah (Oct. 27, 2013)-A powerhouse roster of three pilots and 11 push athletes were named to the 2013-2014 men’s bobsled national team this morning following a series of four selection races. The national team will race in eight World Cup events starting the week of Nov. 24 in Calgary, Canada before culminating in Sochi, Russia for the Winter Olympic Games.
“This is the most impressive team we’ve ever had going into an Olympic year,” said Brian Shimer, men’s bobsled head coach. “Selecting this pool of athletes was probably one of the hardest decisions we’ve had to make as a committee. It’s exciting as a coach to have this kind of depth on the team, but bittersweet because I know we’re not taking a handful of athletes that are very capable of producing results.”
Steven Holcomb (Park City, Utah) received a bye onto the team for his four-man bobsled World Championship bronze medal performance last season and will pilot USA-I. Army World Class Athlete Soldier-athlete Nick Cunningham (Monterey, Calif.) solidified his spot on the team after finishing second to Holcomb in all four selection races and has been allocated USA-2, while Cory Butner (Yucaipa, Calif.) will pilot USA-3.
The 11 men’s bobsled push athletes named to the national team include the following athletes, listed in alphabetical order: 2010 Olympian Chuck Berkeley (Walnut Creek, Calif.), 2013 Athletes’ Choice award recipient Adam Clark (Owenton, Ky.), second year athlete Andreas Drbal (Belmont, Calif.), 2010 Olympian and reigning national push champion Chris Fogt (Alpine, Utah), former Cornell University lacrosse standout Chris Langton (Melrose, Mass.), 2010 Olympian and 2013 World Champion Steve Langton (Melrose, Mass.), Swiss track start-record holder Abe Morlu (Phoenix, Ariz.), 2010 Olympic champion Justin Olsen (San Antonio, Texas), fourth year veteran Johnny Quinn (McKinney, Texas), former track and field competitor Dallas Robinson (Georgetown, Ky.), and 2010 Olympic champion Curt Tomasevicz (Shelby, Neb.).
Four national team members- Cunningham, Fogt, Olsen and Robinson- are Army World Class Program Soldier-athletes. Seven of the 14 athletes named to the team have competed in a Winter Olympic Games, and three of them are returning gold medalists. Only two athletes, Holcomb and Fogt, hail from a state that’s home to one of two bobsled tracks in the United States, while more than a quarter of the team comes from the Golden State of California.
