Hunter Church during a training run in Winterberg

Photo credit: IBSF / Viesturs Lacis

WINTERBERG, Germany (December 11, 2021) – Hunter Church (Cadyville, N.Y.) teamed up with Josh Williamson (Lake Mary, Fla.), Kris Horn (Pembroke, Mass.) and Charlie Volker (Fair Haven, N.J.) for 10th place in this morning’s four-man bobsled World Cup race in Winterberg. Codie Bascue (Whitehall, N.Y.), Carlo Valdes (Newport Beach, Calif.), Jimmy Reed (Garmisch, Germany) and Hakeem Abdul Saboor (Powhatan, Va.) finished 12th.

“I’m looking forward to our team coming back tomorrow and improving on today’s finishes, because we’re better than these results reflect,” said USA Bobsled Head Coach Mike Kohn. “The start times are there. Hunter and his team had the fastest velocity in the first heat, we just need to dial in the load depth.”

Church, Williamson, Horn and Volker powered the sled off the block for the fourth fastest start time of 5.07 seconds in the first heat and the highest velocity of any team. Church piloted the team to the finish in 54.05 seconds for the seventh best downtime. The crew bettered their push time by one-hundredth of a second in heat two, but a later load resulted in lower velocity. Church, Williamson, Horn and Volker crossed the finish line over half a second slower than the first run with a run of 54.67 seconds. The American team finished 10th with a total time of 1:48.72.

Bascue, Valdes, Reed and Abdul Saboor powered the Under Armour wrapped sled off the block in 5.09 and 5.10 seconds for the seventh and eighth best start times of the field. Bascue navigated the sled to the finish in 54.28 and 54.52 seconds to finish 12th with a combined time of 1:48.80.

Team Germany claimed the gold and silver medals. Francesco Friedrich, Thorsten Margis, Martin Grothkopp and Alexander Schueller clocked the third and first fastest times of the field to win by 0.05 seconds with a combined time of 1:47.95. The crew also had the fastest start time of the day after pushing a 5.04 in heat two. Johannes Lochner, Florian Bauer, Christopher Weber and Christian Rasp were second with a two-run total of 1:48.00. Canadians Justin Kripps, Ryan Sommer, Cam Stones and Benjamin Coakwell denied the Germans a sweep of the medals by finishing third with a cumulative time of 1:48.09.

Up next is the women’s monobob competition at 2:30 p.m. local time. 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. Friedrich, Margis, Grothkopp and Schueller (GER) 1:47.95 (53.78, 54.17);

2. Lochner, Bauer, Weber and Rasp (GER) 1:48.00 (53.76, 54.24);

3. Kripps, Sommer, Stones and Coackwell (CAN) 1:48.09 (53.89, 54.20);

10. Church, Williamson, Horn and Volker (USA) 1:48.72 (54.05, 54.67);

12. Bascue, Valdes, Reed and Abdul Saboor (USA) 1:48.80 (54.28, 54.52);

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 Bascue have strong performances in four-man bobsled World Cup today

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