TEAM USA TRAVELS TO LATVIA FOR THE NEXT LEG OF THE WORLD CUP
Share:
by Abby Slenker
SIGULDA, LATVIA (February 4, 2024) - Team USA traveled to Latvia this week for the next leg of the IBSF World Cup. This notoriously hard track challenged the team, but the Stars and Stripes were still able to walk away with several top-six finishes under their belt.
The action kicked off on February 2nd with Men’s and Women’s Skeleton along with the first of two 2-Woman races to be held at the track. In Men’s Skeleton, Austin Florian slid into an impressive 5th-place finish with his time of 1:41.37.
“I am very excited about how today went. I have historically struggled at this track and am very happy to finally put down a great result and even the fastest second run! I am hoping this is just a sign of things to come as we come into Altenberg, World Champs, and Lake Placid on some of my stronger tracks,” shared Florian about his performance.
Also in Men’s Skeleton, Dan Barefoot placed 23rd with his time of 1:43.00 while Hunter Williams placed 29th with his one-run time of 52.28. In Women’s Skeleton, Katie Uhlaender placed 12th with her time of 1:44.18, Mystique Ro placed 16th with her time of 1:44.37 and Sara Roderick placed 31st with a one-run time of 53.75. In the first of two 2-Woman races at this leg of the World Cup circuit, Elana Meyers Taylor alongside Sydney Milani placed seventh with a time of 1:42.49. Unfortunately, due to a crash on the first run, Team Kaysha Love exited the competition.
The second day of events brought more action for the U.S. with Meyers Taylor placing third in Women’s Monobob and Love placing fifth with times of 1:47.87 and 1:48.23, respectively.
“Super excited to come away with a medal today- I’ve been having some health issues so it has been a struggle recently- but excited to be on an upward swing. Grateful for my teammates and staff and for Lauren Gibbs for coming to help and helping me along. Super proud of Kaysha for today though- she is the real gold medalist- to rebound after yesterday to 5th place is crazy impressive and proof that our program is in good hands for a long time,” shared Meyers Taylor.
Also on the second day of competition, Frank Del Duca and Hakeem Abdul-Saboor placed eighth with their combined run time of 1:40.34.
The last day of competition was a short one, with Meyers Taylor alongside Azaria Hill the only USA sled competing, earning a fifth-place finish with their time of 1:42.41 in the second Monobob race of the weekend.
Outside of the World Cup circuit, Team USA is also currently competing in Innsbruck, Austria in the Europe Cup (EC) circuit.
The events kicked off on the first of the month with Women’s Monobob and 2-Man Bobsled. In Monobob, Sylvia Hoffman had her first gold-winning finish in the discipline with her time of 1:50.47. Riley Tejcek also competed, placing 13th with a time of 1:52.21. In 2-Man, Geoff Gadbois and Bryce Cheek placed 11th and Kris Horn alongside David Simon placed 13th, with respective times of 1:45.10 and 1:45.33.
On the second and third, the EC events continued with two consecutive days of 2-Woman and 4-man races. In 2-Woman, Tejcek and Jestena Mattson placed fifth in Race 1 with a time of 1:47.56. Hoffman and Mia Lobel placed 13th with a time of 1:49.11. In 4-Man, Horn, Simon, Jace Johnson, and Darius Joseph placed tenth with their time of 1:43.80. Gabois along with Chase Blueberg, Cheek and Collin Storms placed 12th with a time of 1:43.99.
In Race 2 for EC 2-Woman, Hoffman and Mattson placed ninth with their 1:47.95 finish while Tejcek and Macy Tarlton finished 11th with a time of 1:48.12. In Race 2 for 4-Man, Team Horn placed tenth with a time of 1:43.57 while Team Gadbois placed 13th with a time of 1:43.69.
The IBSF World Cup will resume in Altenberg, Germany on February 16, 2024.
###
About USA Bobsled/Skeleton
USA Bobsled/Skeleton is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton racing in the United States. Based in Lake Placid, NY, USA Bobsled/Skeleton oversees the development and training of American athletes at all levels of competition.
