Contact: Amanda Bird, USABS Marketing and Communications Director (518) 354-2250, amanda.bird@usabs.com
USA Bobsled/Skeleton athletes join World Cup circuit in Europe
WINTERBERG, Germany (January 7, 2021)- USA Bobsled/Skeleton athletes compete for the first time this World Cup season in Winterberg, Germany from Friday, January 8th through Sunday, January 10th. The U.S. team sat out the first half of the 2020-2021 season in Europe to minimize travel, reduce quarantine periods, and provide the safest environment possible for the athletes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The race schedule is as follows, with all times listed in local time.
Friday
10 a.m.
Men’s skeleton run #1
11:45 a.m.
Men’s skeleton run #2
2:30 p.m.
Women’s skeleton run #1
4 p.m.
Women’s skeleton run #2
Saturday
9:15 a.m.
Women’s bobsled run #1
10:45 a.m.
Women’s bobsled run #2
2 p.m.
Men’s two-man bobsled run #1
3:35 p.m.
Men’s two-bobsled run #2
Sunday
10 a.m.
Four-man bobsled run #1
11:35 a.m.
Four-man bobsled run #2
Austin Florian (Southington, Conn.) and Austin McCrary (Colleyville, Texas) will kick things off in men’s skeleton on Friday. John Daly (Smithtown, N.Y.) earned his spot as USA-1, but he needs to complete the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation’s 5-3-2 rule before he’s eligible to compete on the World Cup circuit, which means he needs to compete in five races on three tracks within two years. He will be racing in European Cup competitions while McCrary, who was named to the Intercontinental Cup team, will be competing on the World Cup tour in Daly’s place.
Megan Henry (Roxbury, Conn.) swept the women’s skeleton races in U.S. trials, but she is one of many athletes and coaches that will not be traveling to Europe. Henry is a member of the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP), and the Army has not signed off on letting soldiers in the WCAP program travel for competition due to concerns with rising COVID-19 cases around the world. She will instead be racing the North American Cup circuit. The other two women named to the team, Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.) and Kendall Wesenberg (Modesto, Calif.), did travel to Winterberg and are scheduled to kick off their international season on Friday.
In women’s bobsled, the U.S. will field three sleds. Kaillie Humphries (Carlsbad, Calif.) will pilot USA-1 with Sylvia Hoffman (Arlington, Texas) on the brakes. Just 10 months after the birth of her son, Nico, Elana Meyers Taylor (Douglasville, Ga.) is back on the World Cup circuit. She took last season off while pregnant, and she’ll enter her first international race as a mom with Lolo Jones (Des Moines, Iowa) in her sled. Nicole Vogt (Dallas, Texas) earned her seat at the helm of USA-3, but she’s opted to race in North America. Brittany Reinbolt (Searcy, Ark.) will be racing in Winterberg as the driver of the third U.S. women’s sled with Lauren Gibbs (Los Angeles, Calif.).
Codie Bascue (Whitehall, N.Y.) will lead the U.S. men’s bobsledders as USA-1. He’ll race with Carlo Valdes (Newport Beach, Calif.) on Saturday in the two-man race, and with Blaine McConnell (Tacoma, Wash.), Valdes, and Kyle Wilcox (Tampa, Fla.) in Sunday’s four-man competition. Geoff Gadbois (Milton, Vt.) will pilot USA-2. Kris Horn (Pembroke, Mass.) will race alongside Gadbois in two-man. Adrian Adams (Reidsville, N.C.), Boone Niederhofer (San Antonio, Texas), and Horn will push Gadbois in four-man.
Fans can watch the races on NBCSN, OlympicChannel.com, and the Olympic Channel. The broadcast schedule is outlined below, with all times listed in EST. Check local listings for the most updated information.
Friday
4 a.m.
Men’s skeleton
OlympicChannel.com
8:30 a.m.
Women’s skeleton
OlympicChannel.com
5 p.m.*
Men’s skeleton
Olympic Channel | STREAM LINK
6 p.m.*
Women’s skeleton
Olympic Channel | STREAM LINK
Saturday
3:30 a.m.
Women’s bobsled
OlympicChannel.com
8 a.m.
Two-man bobsled
OlympicChannel.com
5 p.m.*
Women’s bobsled
Olympic Channel | STREAM LINK
9 p.m.*
Women’s bobsled
NBCSN | STREAM LINK
10 p.m.*
Two-man bobsled
NBCSN | STREAM LINK
Sunday
4 a.m.
Four-man bobsled
OlympicChannel.com
2 p.m.*
Four-man bobsled
Olympic Channel | STREAM LINK
3 p.m.*
Four-man bobsled
NBCSN | STREAM LINK
*Delayed broadcast
For media inquiries, please contact USABS Marketing and Communications Director Amanda Bird at amanda.bird@usabs.com.
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. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com. Individuals interested in becoming a bobsled or skeleton athlete can visit www.usabobsledskeleton.com.
Source: TeamUSA