Austin Florian during a training run in Altenberg this week.
 Photo credit: IBSF / Viesturs Lacis

ALTENBERG, Germany (December 17, 2021) – Austin Florian (Southington, Conn.) and John Daly (Smithtown, N.Y.) struggled in the men’s skeleton World Cup race in Altenberg this morning, finishing 25th and 26th, respectively. The men’s team hasn’t been able to catch a break this season. Track conditions deteriorated for the last 10 sleds due to weather, which impacted the Americans.

“It was warm and the track was just frosting up,” said USA Skeleton Head Coach Tuffy Latour. “It’s not an excuse, but it didn’t help.”

Florian had the 15th fastest start time of 5.08 seconds. He slowed down after making a mistake at the exit of the Kreisel corner and crossed the finish line in 58.94 seconds for 25th place. Daly lost too much time at the start with the 28th ranked push time of 5.30 seconds. He finished one-hundredth of a second behind his teammate in 26th. Florian and Daly missed the top-20 cutoff for the second heat.

Martins Dukurs from Latvia was today’s winner with a combined time of 1:53.90. German Axel Jungk claimed silver with a two-run total of 1:54.09, followed by his teammate Christopher Grotheer in third with an aggregate time of 1:54.31.

The women’s skeleton competition takes place today 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.

###

Results

1. Martins Dukurs (LAT) 1:53.90 (57.02, 56.88);

2. Axel Jungk (GER) 1:54.09 (56.79, 57.30);

3. Christopher Grotheer (GER) 1:54.31 (57.03, 57.28);

25. Austin Florian (USA) (58.94, DNS);

26. John Daly (USA) (58.95, 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.