Photo: Frank Del Duca en route to winning one of his three gold medals.

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (December 15, 2021) – Frank Del Duca (Bethel, Me.) led the way for USA Bobsled/Skeleton athletes by sweeping the three men’s two-man bobsled North American Cup races in Lake Placid this week to secure his overall title. Del Duca earned gold medals with three different brakemen– Kyle Wilcox (Tampa, Fla.), Manteo Mitchell (Shelby, N.C.) and Boone Niederhofer (San Antonio, Texas). Tyler Hickey (Geneva, Ill.) and David Simon (West Melbourne, Fla.) rallied for silver in the final two-man race, and Brittany Reinbolt (Searcy, Ark.) added a bronze medal to the overall count in women’s monobob today.

“The guys did awesome,” Del Duca said. “Push athletes are a major contributor to the horsepower of a sled. I’m just a guy who loves racing, driving bobsleds, and going fast whenever possible. I didn’t get runs here this year until this North American Cup stop, and I’ve missed driving this track. I’m happy to be back.”

The Lake Placid event is the North American Cup finale for the 2021-2022 season. The event hosted three races over three consecutive days for four disciplines, and will kick off another three consecutive days of racing starting on Saturday.

Del Duca easily won the overall two-man bobsled title after medaling in all eight races. Five of those medals were gold. While Del Duca is pleased with his finishes, he’s already turned his attention to the upcoming four-man bobsled races.

“Ultimately my focus is on the four-man races, and maximizing points to qualify three sleds for Team USA at the Olympics,” Del Duca said. “I would love to see three sleds at the 2022 Olympics. I think it would help grow our program in many different ways.”

Del Duca teamed with Wilcox for his first win of the week. The duo clocked the second fastest start times of 5.18 seconds in both heats, and Del Duca threaded together the fastest times of 56.16 and 56.80 seconds to win with a total time of 1:52.96. Kaizhi Sun and Zhitao from China claimed silver in 1:54.09, followed by Canadians Taylor Austin and Chris Patrician in third with a two-run total of 1:54.24.

Geoff Gadbois (Milton, Vt.) and Mitchell narrowly missed the medals in fourth with a combined time of 1:54.39. Hickey and Bryce Cheek (Lewis Center, Ohio) were on the heels of their teammates in fifth with an aggregate time of 1:54.42.

Del Duca and Niederhofer claimed gold in race two with a total time of 1:53.01. The pair pushed the third-best push times of 5.25 and 5.26 seconds for the fastest downtimes of 56.34 and 56.67 seconds, respectively. Austin and Jay Dearborn of Canada took silver in 1:53.24, and Sun and Qingze Wu earned bronze in 1:53.78.

Hickey and Chris Avery (San Diego, Calif.) had an aggregate time of 1:53.94 to finish fourth. Gadbois was not able to compete.

Del Duca and Mitchell were accompanied by Hickey and Simon on the medal stand today. Del Duca and Mitchell had the fifth and eighth best start times of 5.25 and 5.40 seconds, and Del Duca expertly guided his sled to the finish line in 56.52 and 57.62 for the first and third fastest downtimes. They claimed gold in 1:54.14, just 0.12 seconds ahead of their teammates. Hickey and Simon finished with a 1:54.26, and they had the fastest downtime of 57.29 seconds in the final run. Sun and Wu finished third with a two-run total of 1:54.46.

Hickey finished fourth overall in North American Cup two-man bobsled points. Gadbois missed the last two races, and is ranked seventh.

“I haven’t had much time to reflect since there are six races in eight days here,” Del Duca said. “I do think about my runs though, and where I can find speed or fix mistakes. The runs felt good in two-man and I think we were pretty consistent.”

Reinbolt claimed six women’s monobob medals in the eight race series this season, and claimed bronze today. She was in sixth place after the first heat, but she rallied back in the final run with the second fastest run to finish in third place with a total time of 1:57.11. Reinbolt was seventh in the first race, and just off the podium in fourth yesterday.

Nicole Vogt (Dallas, Texas) narrowly missed the medals on day one in fourth, and she finished sixth and fifth in races two and three.

Canadian Alysia Rissling swept the women’s monobob races this week, and Ashleigh Werner of Australia claimed triple silver medals. Bianca Ribi of Canada took bronze in race one, while Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian earned bronze yesterday and Reinbolt was third today for Team USA.

Leah Fair (Gaffney, S.C.) finished 11th in all three women’s skeleton competitions. The development athlete had only competed in three North American Cup races in her career before this week, and all were in Park City, Utah.

Korean Eunji Kim swept the women’s races. Her teammate, Jeonghyeok Lee, claimed silver in the first two races, and bronze today. Leslie Stratton from Sweden took bronze in the first two races, and surpassed Lee in the final race to take silver.

Darryl Payne (Austin, Texas) led the U.S. in the men’s skeleton races. Payne made his international debut just last month in one of the Park City, Utah North American Cup races. He finished 14th in the first race, 15th yesterday, and 14th again today.

Samuel Arquit (Harrison, N.Y.) raced for the first time in his career this week. He was 15th in race one, and 16th in race two and three. Bradley Nicol (Springville, Utah), like Payne, made his debut last month in one of the Park City North American Cup races. He was overweight in the first race and disqualified, but he rallied back for 14th and 15th places in the second and third competitions, respectively.

Ander Mirambell from Spain was victorious in the first race, and claimed bronze in the second and third races. Nicholas Timmings from Australia finished behind Mirambell in the opening, but won the next two races. Jared Firestone from Israel earned bronze and double silver medals.

Races continue in Lake Placid with the two-woman and four-man bobsled competitions from December 18-20.

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

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Results

Women’s monobob #1 (12/13)

1. Alysia Rissling (CAN) 1:55.81 (57.56, 58.25);

2. Ashleigh Werner (AUS) 1:56.30 (57.90, 58.40);

3. Bianca Ribi (CAN) 1:56.75 (57.87, 58.88);

4. Nicole Vogt (USA) 1:56.86 (58.06, 58.80);

7. Brittany Reinbolt (USA) 1:58.01 (58.90, 59.11);

Women’s monobob #2 (12/14)

1. Alysia Rissling (CAN) 1:55.37 (57.33, 58.04);

2. Ashleigh Werner (AUS) 1:55.84 (57.81, 58.03);

3. Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian (JAM) 1:56.31 (57.85, 58.46);

4. Brittany Reinbolt (USA) 1:56.57 (57.97, 58.60);

6. Nicole Vogt (USA) 1:56.93 (58.15, 58.78);

Women’s monobob #3 (12/15)

1. Alysia Rissling (CAN) 1:56.28 (57.76, 58.52);

2. Ashleigh Werner (AUS) 1:56.92 (58.14, 58.78);

3. Brittany Reinbolt (USA) 1:57.11 (58.51, 58.60);

5. Nicole Vogt (USA) 1:57.27 (58.23, 59.04);

Two-man bobsled #1 (12/13)

1. Del Duca and Wilcox (USA) 1:52.96 (56.16, 56.80);

2. Kaizhi Sun and Zhitao Wu (CHN) 1:54.09 (56.79, 57.30);

3. Taylor Austin and Chris Patrician (CAN) 1:54.24 (56.79, 57.45);

4. Geoff Gadbois and Manteo Mitchell (USA) 1:54.39 (56.89, 57.50);

5. Tyler Hickey and Bryce Cheek (USA) 1:54.42 (56.95, 57.47);

Two-man bobsled #2 (12/14)

1. Frank Del Duca and Boone Niederhofer (USA) 1:53.01 (56.34, 56.67);

2. Taylor Austin and Jay Dearborn (CAN) 1:53.24 (56.40, 56.84);

3. Kaizhi Sun and Qingze Wu (CHN) 1:53.78 (56.78, 57.00);

4. Tyler Hickey and Chris Avery (USA) 1:53.94 (56.69, 57.25);

Two-man bobsled #3 (12/15)

1. Frank Del Duca and Manteo Mitchell (USA) 1:54.14 (56.52, 57.62);

2. Tyler Hickey and David Simon (USA) 1:54.26 (56.97, 57.29);

3. Kaizhi Sun and Zhitao Wu (CHN) 1:54.46 (56.98, 57.48);

Women’s skeleton #1 (12/13)

1. Eunji Kim (KOR) 1:52.81 (56.15, 56.66);

2. Jeonghyeok Lee (KOR) 1:53.52 (56.34, 57.18);

3. Leslie Stratton (SWE) 1:53.68 (56.45, 57.23);

11. Leah Fair (USA) 1:58.64 (59.27, 59.37);

Women’s skeleton #2 (12/14)

1. Eunji Kim (KOR) 1:53.32 (56.62, 56.70);

2. Jeonhyeok Lee (KOR) 1:54.48 (57.18, 57.30);

3. Leslie Stratton (SWE) 1:54.52 (57.32, 57.20);

11. Leah Fair (USA) 2:00.07 (1:00.07, 1:00.00);

Women’s skeleton #3 (12/15)

1. Eungi Kim (KOR) 1:52.68 (56.29, 56.39);

2. Leslie Stratton (USA) 1:53.71 (56.42, 57.29);

3. Jeonghyeok Lee (KOR) 1:53.93 (56.62, 57.31);

11. Leah Fair (USA) 1:59.32 (59.50, 59.82);

Men’s skeleton #1 (12/13)

1. Ander Mirambell (SPN) 1:50.24 (55.03, 55.21);

2. Nicholas Timmings (AUS) 1:50.28 (54.86, 55.42);

3. Jared Firestone (ISR) 1:51.13 (55.29, 55.84);

14. Darryl Payne (USA) 1:56.38 (57.86, 58.52);

15. Samuel Arquit (USA) 1:58.10 (59.66, 58.44);

DSQ Bradley Nicol (USA)

Men’s skeleton #2 (12/14)

1. Nicholas Timmings (AUS) 1:50.53 (55.31, 55.22);

2. Jared Firestone (ISR) 1:50.62 (54.95, 55.67);

3. Ander Mirambell (SPN) 1:51.05 (55.39, 55.66);

14. Bradley Nicol (USA) 1:56.16 (57.92, 58.24);

15. Darryl Payne (USA) 1:57.40 (58.54, 58.86);

16. Samuel Arquit (USA) 1:58.68 (59.95, 58.73);

Men’s skeleton #3 (12/15)

1. Nicholas Timmings (AUS) 1:50.28 (55.05, 55.23);

2. Jared Firestone (IRS) 1:51.10 (55.37, 55.73);

3. Ander Mirambell (SPN) 1:51.29 (55.20, 56.09);

14. Darryl Payne (USA) 1:55.67 (57.62, 58.05);

15. Bradley Nicol (USA) 1:56.44 (57.83, 58.61);

16. Samuel Arquit (USA) 1:57.34 (58.51, 58.83);

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.

USA Bobsled athletes earn five medals in first series of North American Cup races in Lake Placid; Del Duca wins two-man bobsled tour title

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