Contact: Amanda Bird, USABS Marketing & Communications Director
(518) 354-2250, amanda.bird@usabs.com

Church repeats eighth place finish with Williamson, Reed and Wilcox in Winterberg’s second four-man bobsled World Cup

Photo credit: IBSF

WINTERBERG, Germany (Jan. 4, 2020)– Hunter Church (Cadyville, N.Y.) had another great result today, finishing eighth with his crew of Josh Williamson (Lake Mary, Fla.), Jimmy Reed (Garmisch, Germany) and Kyle Wilcox (Tampa, Fla.) in Winterberg’s second four-man World Cup race of the week.

Church, Williamson, Reed, and Kris Horn finished eighth yesterday in Church’s first-ever World Cup race outside of North America. Wilcox had a turn in the sled today, and the crew battled against an experienced field to once again finish eighth.

“I am really proud of these guys,” said USA Bobsled Head Coach Mike Kohn. “There was a lot thrown at them today, but they stayed composed, they didn’t complain or make excuses, and they did the best they could. They are conducting themselves like professionals, and it’s just a matter of getting more experience.”

Kohn said there was a mix-up with the schedule and the crew didn’t pick up lunch at the hotel, so “they raced today on empty stomachs,” and the team before the Americans crashed in the first heat, resulting in a delay. The crew stayed collected and threw down two of their best runs despite the unexpected challenges.

Church, Williamson, Reed and Wilcox powered the Under Armour-wrapped sled off the block in 5.26 seconds, and tied Korean Yunjong Won for 10th position with a time of 55.94 seconds. The Americans responded in the second heat with a faster start time of 5.24, and the seventh-best run time of 53.33 seconds. Church, Williamson, Reed and Wilcox moved up two spots into eighth with a combined time of 1:51.27.

Church high-fived fans in the crowd and waved to the camera at the finish. Broadcast commentator Martin Haven said Church was “absolutely bouncing” with his enthusiasm about racing in Europe.

“Two top-ten finishes on a track Hunter has never driven before this week is exceptional,” Kohn said. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy and that we had our work cut out for us, but this team is proving they are up for the challenge.”

Team Germany swept the medals today. Johannes Lochner, Florian Bauer, Christian Rasp and Christopher Weber moved up from second to the lead with a two-run total of 1:50.54. Yesterday’s winners Francesco Friedrich, Candy Bauer, Alexander Schueller and Thorsten Margis finished second with a total time of 1:50.56. Nico Walther, Paul Krenz, Kevin Korona and Eric Franke finished in 1:50.76 for the bronze medal.

Racing continues tomorrow with the men’s skeleton race at 10 a.m. local time, followed by women’s skeleton at 2 p.m. NBC Sports and Olympic Channel will have broadcast and digital streaming coverage. Fans can catch all the action in spectacular high definition via NBC Sports online at NBCSports.com/Live, or through the NBC Sports app. Additional coverage will be available on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app.

Please contact USABS Marketing & Communications Director Amanda Bird at 518-354-2250, or amanda.bird@usabs.com, with media inquiries.

Results

1. Johannes Lochner, Florian Bauer, Christian Rasp and Christopher Weber (GER) 1:50.54 (55.53, 55.01);
2. Francesco Friedrich, Candy Bauer, Alexander Schueller and Thorsten Margis (GER) 1:50.56 (55.38, 55.18);
3. Nico Walther, Paul Krenz, Kevin Korona and Eric Franke (GER) 1:50.76 (55.58, 55.18);
8. Hunter Church, Josh Williamson, Jimmy Reed and Kyle Wilcox (USA) 1:51.27 (55.94, 55.33);

About USA Bobsled & Skeleton
USA Bobsled & Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. USABS would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, Omaze, Kampgrounds of America, BiPro, Boomerang Carnets, Hudl, Tesa Tape, PVS International, Ferris Mfg. Corp, Machintek, deBotech and Carpenter. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com.

###