Contact: Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Director
(518) 354-2250, abird@usbsf.com

USA-1 disappointed with 17th place in four-man World Cup

IGLS, Austria (Jan. 20, 2013)- Steven Holcomb (Park City, Utah) and his USA-1 crew of Curt Tomasevicz (Shelby, Neb.), Steve Langton (Melrose, Mass.) and Chris Fogt (Alpine, Utah) put together two solid runs in this morning’s four-man race in Igls and were stunned to only finish 17th.

“I am dumbfounded,” Holcomb said.  “I don’t even know what to say right now.”

It’s been five years since Holcomb has finished below the top 10 in a four-man World Cup race. The last time he was outside the top 10 was January 2008, when Holcomb placed 11th in the Cesana, Italy World Cup.   

USA-1 was disappointed after finishing seventh last weekend in Koenigssee, Germany and eager to reclaim their usual spot on the podium.  The crew did their job by powering the sled off the start line for push times of 5.07 and 5.06 seconds, and Holcomb strung together two smooth runs without any major errors down the course today.

“Last week I decided to chalk it up to a bad day, but after another bad day today I have to figure out what’s going on,” Holcomb said.  “There are only three things in the equation.  I have a great crew, and I can’t imagine I suddenly lost my touch with driving.  My guess is that something is going on with the sled, so we’ll go over it with a fine toothcomb this week so we can give it everything we have at World Championships.”

USA-1 clocked runs of 52.30 and 52.22 seconds for a total time of 1:44.52, only 17th best of the field.  Holcomb stood at the finish following his run to watch the remaining teams vie for medal position.    

“I’m standing at the bottom watching the big screen and there are drivers missing their steers and teams stumbling into the sled, but they are coming down faster than we did,” Holcomb said.  “That’s not how it should be.”

Germans claimed two of the three medal positions today.  Maximilian Arndt seized the lead with his crew of Marko Huebenbecker, Alexander Roediger and Martin Putze.  GER-1 was ahead in both heats to claim gold with an aggregate time of 1:43.33.

Beat Hefti and his push team of Alex Baumann, Thomas Lamparter and Juerg Egger are gaining steam leading into the 2013 World Championships on home ice.  SUI-1 earned silver today with a total time of 1:43.49.  Germans Thomas Florscuetz, Andreas Bredau, Kevin Kuske and Thomas Blaschek clocked a two-run total of 1:43.51 for third.

Nick Cunningham (Monterey, Calif.) had a new team combination today of Justin Olsen (San Antonio, Texas), Andreas Drbal (Belmont, Calif.) and Dallas Robinson (Georgetown, Ky.).  The three National Guardsman and rookie pusher posted start times of 5.11 and 5.15 seconds for runs of 52.37 and 52.36 seconds, respectively.  USA-2 clocked a combined time of 1:44.73 for 20th.

Cory Butner (Yucaipa, Calif.) teamed with Jesse Beckom (Chicago, Ill.), Adam Clark (Owenton, Ky.) and Johnny Quinn (McKinney, Texas) in the WIDIA sled for 23rd.  USA-3 pushed off the block in 5.18 seconds and Butner drove the sled with precision to the bottom.  The crew was just 0.11 seconds short of qualifying for a second run after clocking 52.50 seconds.

Today’s four-man race concludes the Igls World Cup event.  Next stop on tour is the 2013 World Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland.  Visit www.universalsports.com for Igls race highlights.  Please contact Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Director, at abird@usbsf.com or 518-354-2250 with media inquiries.

Results:

1. Arndt, Huebenbecker, Roediger and Putze (GER) 1:43.33 (51.70, 51.63); 2. Hefti, Baumann, Lamparter and Egger (SUI) 1:43.49 (51.80, 51.69); 3. Florschuetz, Bredau, Kuske and Blaschek (GER) 1:43.51 (51.71, 51.80);…17. Holcomb, Tomasevicz, Langton and Fogt (USA) 1:44.52 (52.30, 52.22);…20. Cunningham, Olsen, Drbal and Robinson (USA) 1:44.73 (52.37, 52.36);…23. Butner, Beckom, Clark and Quinn (USA) (52.50, DNS);

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