Florian top American in 15th at men’s skeleton World Championships

Photo credit: IBSF

ALTENBERG, Germany (Feb. 12, 2021) – Austin Florian (Southington, Conn.) finished 15th as the top American finisher in the men’s skeleton World Championships in Altenberg today. Austin McCrary (Colleyville, Texas), who made his debut, finished 29th.

“What’s great about a four heat race is that anything can happen, especially on a track like Altenberg,” said USA Skeleton Head Coach Tuffy Latour. “Austin Florian and Austin McCrary are still learning and fine tuning things, and while they are disappointed with their finishes, there are a lot of takeaways from today. Even some of the greatest athletes in the field struggled, so there’s always something to learn.”

Florian’s start times were 5.06 and 5.04 seconds today, compared to his best push time of 4.98 yesterday. He was in 10th place at the halfway point, but a complicated third run of 58.18 seconds was 21st of the heat. Eager to reclaim spots, Florian posted a final run time of 57.71 seconds and finished 15th with a four-run combined time of 3:50.67.

The most decorated skeleton athlete in history, Martins Dukurs of Latvia, also wrestled with the track today. He had a rough final run and dropped behind Florian into 16th place. Reigning Olympic champion Sungbin Yun from Korea also dropped back to finish 17th.

McCrary made his World Championship debut on what is known as one of the most challenging tracks in the world. He was in 29th place after a third run time of 59.12 seconds, and missed the top 20 cutoff for the fourth and final heat.

Athletes from team Germany and Bobsled Federation Russia claimed the top six positions. German Christopher Grotheer won his second consecutive World Championship title with a cumulative time of 3:46.31. Alexander Tretiakov from Bobsled Federation Russia earned the silver medal in 3:46.59, and Germany’s Alexander Gassner claimed bronze in 3:47.51. 

World Championship racing continues tomorrow with the mixed skeleton team event at 9 a.m. local time, followed by the women’s monobob opening heat at 11:30 a.m.

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

Results

1. Christopher Grotheer (GER) 3:46.31 (56.74, 56.62, 56.36, 56.59);

2. Alexander Tretiakov (BFR) 3:46.59 (56.58, 56.72, 56.63, 56.66);

3. Alexander Gassner (GER)  3:47.51 (56.95, 57.01, 56.84, 56.71);

15. Austin Florian (USA) 3:50.67 (57.48, 57.30, 58.18, 57.71);

29. Austin McCrary (USA) 2:57.20 (58.90, 59.18, 59.12, 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.