Photo credit: IBSF / Viesturs Lacis

ALTENBERG, Germany (December 4, 2021) – Hunter Church (Cadyville, N.Y.) and Charlie Volker (Fair Haven, N.J.) finished 18th in the two-man bobsled World Cup race in Altenberg this morning. Codie Bascue (Whitehall, N.Y.) and Hakeem Abdul Saboor (Powhatan, Va.) were 23rd.

“We will debrief today and get ready for four-man tomorrow,” said USA Bobsled Head Coach Mike Kohn. “We won’t dwell on today, and these guys will be ready to put together better runs tomorrow.”

Church and Volker pushed off the block in 5.31 and 5.34 seconds–14th and 15th best of the field– for runs of 55.77 and 56.00 seconds, respectively. The pair finished 18th with a combined time of 1:51.77. This was Volker’s third career World Cup start, but his first in two-man.

Bascue and Abdul Saboor pushed a 5.33 for the 17th ranked start time, and the crew crossed the finish line in 56.01 seconds for 23rd place. The Americans missed the top-20 cutoff for the second heat by 0.08 seconds.

Francesco Fridrich and Alexander Schueller won gold for Germany with a combined time of 1:49.96. The Germans were in third after the first heat, but posted a flawless second run to take over the lead by 0.24 seconds. Johannes Lochner and Christopher Weber finished second with a two-run total of 1:50.20, and Russians Rostislav Gaitiukevich and Mikhail Mordasov were just 0.03 seconds behind the Germans to claim bronze in 1:50.23.

The Altenberg World Cup continues tomorrow with the two-woman competition at 9:30 a.m. and the four-man bobsled race at 2 p.m. Streaming will be available via desktop at olympics.com/en/live/, and via mobile, tablet and connected television platforms on the Olympic Channel app. Check local listings for broadcast times on the Olympic Channel and OlympicChannel.com.

For media inquiries, please contact USABS Marketing and Communications Director Amanda Bird at amanda.bird@usabs.com.

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Results

1. Francesco Fridrich and Alexander Schueller (GER) 1:49.96 (55.06, 54.90);

2. Johannes Lochner and Christopher Weber (GER) 1:50.20 (54.90, 55.30);

3. Rostislav Gaitiukevich and Mikhail Mordasov (RUS) 1:50.23 (54.95, 55.28);

18. Hunter Church and Charlie Volker (USA) 1:51.77 (55.77, 56.00);

23. Codie Bascue and Hakeem Abdul Saboor (USA) (56.01, DNS);

About USA Bobsled/Skeleton

USA Bobsled/Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com. Individuals interested in becoming a bobsled or skeleton athlete can visit www.usabobsledskeleton.com.

Church and Volker in top-20 at two-man bobsled World Cup in Altenberg

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