Holcomb concludes World Cup season of trial and tribulation ranked 11th in four-person bobsled
KOENIGSSEE, Germany (Feb. 28, 2016)- Steven Holcomb (Park City, Utah) teamed with Frank Del Duca (Bethel, Maine), Carlo Valdes (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Sam Michener (Gresham, Ore.) in the Night Train 2 to conclude the World Cup season with a 16th place finish in the four-person bobsled race, and 11th place in season standings.
"It's definitely frustrating and not the way I wanted to end the season, but there's not much we can do until the offseason," Holcomb said. "Honestly, it's nice to be done and moving on. We can focus on making changes, getting healthy, and preparing for next season now."
Still searching for team cohesion, competitive start times and suffering from injuries, Holcomb struggled in four-person bobsled this season. The three-time Olympic medalist started the season with a 17th place result in Altenberg, Germany, and Holcomb was only able to rise to a season best finish of seventh on home ice in Park City, Utah. He wraps up the season ranked 11th in four-person standings with 920 points.
Holcomb, Del Duca, Valdes and Michener combined forces for starts of 5.03 and 4.99 seconds, and Holcomb steered the Night Train 2 to the finish for nearly identical times of 49.93 and 49.94 seconds, respectively. Holcomb capped a season of trial and tribulation with a total time of 1:39.87 for 16th place. After climbing out of the sled and taking a moment to compose himself, Holcomb high-fived eager fans at the finish that were excited to meet the three-time Olympic medalist.
"The crowd here is amazing, they are very supportive and cheering, so it's nice to finish in front of a crowd like that," Holcomb said. "We'll head home tomorrow, regroup, and get ready for USA Bobsled National Championships. Hopefully we can end the season on a high note back on home ice before we get back to work during the offseason."
Two-time Olympian Nick Cunningham raced only two-man bobsled in the World Cup finale and capped the season ranked 16th in four-person standings with 800 points.
Germany's Maximilian Arndt, Alexander Roediger, Kevin Kuske and Martin Putze were victorious in 1:38.15, and Arndt claimed the crystal globe for the season with 1715 points. Benjamin Maier, Marco Rangl, Markus Sammer and Danut Ion Moldovan from Austria shocked the field by claiming the silver medal in 1:38.28. German Francesco Friedrich teamed with Candy Bauer, Martin Grothkopp and Thorsten Margis for bronze in 1:38.39, and Friedrich finished his season ranked second overall in four-person rank with 1570 points. Switzerland's Rico Peter collected 1512 points to cap the season ranked third.
Today's race concluded the 2015-2016 World Cup season. Four of the six tours have wrapped up this season. The North American Cup continues in Park City and Lake Placid, N.Y., and the Para World Championships will take place in Park City next month.
For media inquiries, please contact Amanda Bird, USABS Marketing & Communications Director, at amanda.bird@usabs.com, or at (518) 354-2250. Get updates on the team by following USA Bobsled & Skeleton on Facebook, USBSF on Twitter and USABS on Instagram.
Results
1.Max Arndt, Alexander Roediger, Kevin Kuske, Martin Putze (GER) 1:38.15 (49.07, 49.08);
2. Benjamin Maier, Marco Rangl, Markus Sammer, Danut Ion Moldovan (AUT) 1:38.28 (49.11, 49.17);
3. Francesco Friedrich, Candy Bauer, Martin Grothkopp, Thorsten Margis (GER) 1:38.39 (49.14, 49.25);
16. Steven Holcomb, Frank Del Duca, Carlo Valdes, Sam Michener (USA) 1:39.87 (49.93, 49.94);
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USA Bobsled & Skeleton, based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. The USABS would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, Kampgrounds of America, Boomerang Carnets, Park City Lodging, Inc., Classroom Champions, Aspen Institute's Project Play, EDAS/Ripxx, Tesa Tape, UberSense, Ferris Mfg. Corp, Protostar, Machintek and deBotech, Carpenter and PVS International. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com.
