Former Soldier Drives U.S. to Bobsled Gold
(March 4, 2010) | 
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| | WHISTLER, British Columbia, March 1, 2010 – Former U.S. Army
World Class Athlete Program bobsledder Steven Holcomb ended
Team USA's 62-year gold medal drought in Olympic bobsled
competition by driving Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curtis
Tomasevicz to victory in the four-man event Feb. 27 at
Whistler Sliding Centre here. |
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| Former Army World Class
Athlete Program bobsledder Steven Holcomb, front
right, leads "The Night Train" team of Justin
Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curtis Tomasevicz to a
start time of 4.77 seconds in the third heat of
the Olympic four-man bobsled event in Whistler,
British Columbia, Feb. 27, 2010. The quartet won
the first U.S. Olympic gold medal in the sport
in 62 years. |
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Holcomb, 29, of Park City, Utah, piloted “The Night Train”
sled designed by former NASCAR driver Geoff Bodine down the
fastest bobsled track in the world to a four-heat combined
time of 3 minutes, 24.46 seconds. They lowered the track
record in each of their first two runs Feb. 26, leaving it
at 50.86 seconds.
“It's incredible,” Holcomb said. “We've been working so hard
the last four years, and it's finally paid off. It's kind of
overwhelming. It's been stressful, but awesome, kind of all
over the place.”
Five-time Olympic medalists Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske
teamed with Alexander Roediger and Martin Putze aboard
Germany 1 to win the silver medal with a time of 3:24.84.
The Canada 1 quartet of Lyndon Rush, Chris Le Bihan, David
Bissett and Lascelles Brown claimed the bronze in 3:24.85,
marking the first time in 46 years Canadian bobsledders have
medaled at the Olympics.
Team USA's .38 margin of victory is considered a landslide
in the sport.
“We came out here to show we're the best team in the world,”
Holcomb said. “It was a full team effort. We have fun
together, and that's why we come out and dominate.”
Team USA 1 blasted out of the blocks with start times of
4.75, 4.73, 4.77 and 4.76 for runs of 50.89, 50.86, 51.19
and 51.52 seconds.
“We had four great starts and four great runs,” Holcomb
said. “We started the weekend with the start record, which
was huge. We wanted to make a statement and make sure they
knew we were here to play.”
Warmer temperatures slowed the track by nearly a second for
Feb. 27's final two heats. Heavy snowfall during the first
two heats the day before contributed to six crashes,
including USA 2, driven by WCAP bobsled pilot Sgt. John
Napier with WCAP brakeman 1st Lt. Chris Fogt, Chuck Berkeley
and Steve Langton aboard.
Team USA physicians convinced Napier to bypass the final two
heats because of limited neck mobility from the crash.
“This really hurts,” Napier said as he watched Holcomb's
third run on television monitors at the finish line.
“Yesterday was my last race of the season.”
U.S. bobsled head coach Brian Shimer, a five-time Olympian,
was not overly concerned.
“I told John that he did an awesome job and that this is
just the beginning,” said Shimer, a 2002 Olympic bronze
medalist. “He has a bright future ahead of him, and I'm
proud to be his coach. Their team had a big start yesterday
and they were flying down the course, so this is really hard
for them to take. But we look forward to a great future for
John in this sport.
“He may be the one to break my record of five Olympics,”
Shimer continued, “and I hope I'm able to share his success
with him in the upcoming years.”
Army National Guard Outstanding Athlete Program Sgt. Mike
Kohn drove to 13th place with Jamie Moriarty, Bill
Schuffenhauer and Nick Cunningham aboard USA 3 in 3:27.32.
“I'm thankful they kept fighting, because I kept fighting,”
said Kohn, 37, of Chantilly, Va., who plans to retire from
the sled and deploy soon to Afghanistan with his National
Guard unit. “We're just thankful we got down safely.
“It's been more than a difficult race; it's been a difficult
season for us,” he added. “The moral of the story is, ‘Keep
fighting, because you never know what's going to happen.'” | |
Article and photo by Tim Hipps
U.S. Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command public affairs office
Copyright 2010
Reprinted from
Army News Service
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