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Holcomb in position to end lengthy Olympic gold medal drought
WHISTLER, B.C. - Pilot Steve Holcomb (Park City, Utah), Steve Mesler (Buffalo, N.Y.), Justin Olsen (San Antonio, Texas) and brakeman Curt Tomasevicz (Shelby, Neb.), is in first place
at the halfway point of the four-man Olympic bobsled competition Friday afternoon at the Whistler Sliding Center.
Holcomb's crew set track records in both of their runs to post a total time of 1:41.75, giving them a lead of .40 ahead of Canada and .44 up on Germany. The American, in his Bo-Dyn Night Train bobsled, lowered the track record to 50.89 in the first heat, then shaved another .03 off that mark their second trip down the course.
On Sunday, the Night Train will try to end a 62-year gold medal drought that extends back to the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland when Lake Placid's Francis Tyler last claimed gold.
"Wow," said Holcomb. "We’re sitting happy right now and we just need to stay relaxed tonight and get focused for tomorrow."
On Sunday, the Night Train will try to end a 62-year gold medal drought that extends back to the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland when Lake Placid's Francis Tyler last claimed gold.
"We have to stay focused," continued Holcomb "It’s a two-day race and we’re at half time. If we can put down two solid runs tomorrow we’ll stay in the mix.
"It’s a great lead to have, obviously. It kind of takes a little pressure off. Even if we do make a mistake tomorrow we still have a little bit of padding. It’ll take pressure off us, but at the same time we’re going out there trying to win and even extend our lead tomorrow. We’re not going to take it easy tomorrow. We’re going to go 100% tomorrow and try to seal the deal."
"I’ve always seen something special in our team and gold was a possibility," said Olsen. "Last year, when we came here, that’s when I started to get the idea in my head that, oh, we’re serious. Really when it was kind of branded into the wood was this summer when we were training and everybody was pushing and I said ‘I know Holcomb’s a good driver. I know he can do that and we’re all pushing better than ever’ and that’s when it was a reality."
Canadian Lyndon Rush is a distant second and will look to secure the medal that escaped him when he crashed in the two-man competition earlier in the Games.
Andre Lange, the German driver who has captured the last four Olympic gold medals dating back to 2002, is currently third. Lange is set to retire after tomorrow’s finale.
In addition to Holcomb’s fast starts leading to track record times, the opening two rounds of bobsled racing featured six crashes, all coming in the 50-50 section of the labyrinth. It was Holcomb who, ironically, coined the name of that section. That difficult stretch of driving ended John Napier’s bid for a medal.
Driver Mike Kohn (Fairfax, Va.), Jamie Moriarty (Glencoe, Ill.), Bill Schuffenhauer (Ogden, Utah) and brakeman Nick Cunningham (Monterey, Calif.), is 12th with a time of 1:43.11. They stayed in the race despite a slip by Moriarity loading the sled in the opening heat.
Napier (Lake Placid, N.Y.), Steve Langton (Melrose, Mass.), Chuck Berkeley (Pittsfield, Mass.) and brakeman Chris Fogt (Alpine, Utah), rolled over during their second run but were still able to record a time of 1:44.71, good enough for 17th place.
The crash was unfortunate in that Napier, seventh after the first heat, had a fast start and was accelerating through the 16-turn course, headed to medal contention.
There were a total of six crashes on the course - including Olympic medalist Sergei Zhubkov of Russia - that saw nearly 30 sleds begin competition. There will be 18 when racing resumes tomorrow at 1 pm PST.
As the United States Olympic Team effort concludes Sunday, the country is on pace to exceed the record total of 34 medals captured in Salt Lake City eight years ago. A medal by Holcomb, combined with similar results from the U.S. men’s hockey team, could help exceed that mark.
ATHLETE QUOTES: Jamie Moriarity, push athlete for Mike Kohn, slipped while entering the sled:
"I slid off the bunk. It could have been that I was pumped up and missed it. You get so many reps loading the sled that you instinctually know what to do. But we got in quickly. Our start time was good, but we have to put that behind us. It won’t happen again."
Nick Cunningham, brakeman for Mike Kohn:
"The start didn’t hurt us too much. That’s the first time it’s ever happened to Jamie. Billy helped get him in the sled. When it happened, I saw spikes in my face and got out of the way."
The run felt good. We put distance from us to the guys behind us. Now we’ll worry about the guys ahead of us."
re: Holcomb: "I hope he can do it tomorrow, but anything can happen on this track."
Chris Fogt, brakeman for John Napier:
On their second run crash: "When I was upside down, I thought that if I go out, others will go too. But I had to hold it together and get two more runs. We will try to finish in the top 10."
