Night Train sleds move to Innsbruck, Austria for next World Cup race

IGLS, Austria – Steve Holcomb, Nick Cunningham and their Night Train bobsleds will conclude their World Cup seasons at two Olympic sites over the next few weeks.

Igls, Austria hosted the bobsled races at the Games in 1964 and 1976. The American Olympians and their respective crews will try to make more improvements at this venue on Sunday. Igls, just six miles from Innsbruck, was part of that city’s Olympic efforts.

A week later, the World Cup tour concludes that part of the season in Sochi, Russia, where just a year ago, Holcomb added Olympic bronze medals in two and four man racing to go with his four man gold medal in 2010.

These races and preparation are pointing to the highlight of the campaign, namely the World Championships in Winterberg, Germany, Feb. 23-March 8.

Igls is one of the shorter tracks on the circuit, which means that if mistakes are made there isn’t much track remaining to recoup the loss of time. A good start is mandatory, which is an area that shows Team USA improving each week. The team has many new push athletes this year, in what has become a rebuilding campaign. Igls presents the next step in that learning process.

If karma means anything, Holcomb has three victories in Igls. He’ll partner with Justin Olsen, Carlo Valdes and Sam Michener Sunday in the Bo-Dyn built Night Train 2.

Cunningham was fourth in Igls a season ago. Joining him in the original Night Train sled will be Casey Wickline, Adam Clark and James Reed.

Race time Sunday is 5:30 AM ET, and can be seen live on www.FIBT.com.