Steven Holcomb ‘97 Wins 2nd Consecutive World Cup Competition
On December 6th, Steven Holcomb ‘97 maintained his overall lead in World Cup standings after winning his second consecutive four-man bobsled competition. Twenty-four teams navigated the 2006 Olympic course in Cesana, Italy for the third stop of the tour.
Holcomb and his Night Train crew of Justin Olsen (San Antonio, Texas), Steve Mesler (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Curt Tomasevicz (Shelby, Neb.) are recognizable names in the sport after collecting medals each season and the 2009 World Championship title, but the four-man pilot still acts surprised when he crosses the finish line with the lead.
“I still get excited,” said Holcomb. “This feeling never gets old, it’s always awesome. It takes work every week to get on the podium, so it’s never an easy journey to win gold. You usually know on your second run if you held onto the lead, but it’s still surprising to see your time on the clock.”
The Night Train crew proved they are still the fastest team off the starting blocks with push times of 4.77 and 4.74 seconds.
“Everyone did their job today,” said Holcomb. “I need to give credit to the guys because we had two fast pushes. I had two good runs and we have a fast sled, so there’s nothing that says we shouldn’t be fast. We have all the components to make it work, and the team came together today.”
Holcomb drove his Bodyn sled to the finish in 55.51 and 55.71 seconds, the fastest runs of the competition, for a combined time of one minute, 55.21 seconds for the victory. The U.S. team finished 0.41 seconds ahead of the field in a sport decided by hundredths of a second.
“It’s not just fun to win, but it’s fun to dominate,” said Holcomb. “That feels even better. Everyone wants to know what’s in our sled that makes it so fast, but they need to realize it’s a combination of great push times, good runs, and a good sled.”
The World Cup circuit continues from Dec. 7-13th in Winterberg, Germany.
“It will be tough going back to Germany,” said Holcomb. “This was our first European win in a couple of years, but it’s nice to finally be back on top, especially this year.”
The last time Holcomb won on a European track was in January 2007 in Cortina, Italy’s four-man World Cup competition. Holcomb won the overall title that season, and is on track to reclaiming the crown going into the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Way to go, Steven!
Complete results can be found by visiting the web site for the Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing at www.fibt.com.
Photo: Charlie Booker
(Contributions courtesy of USBSF).
