Katie Uhlaender during a training run in Igls

Photo credit: IBSF

IGLS, Austria (November 17, 2021) – The Innsbruck Olympic sliding track will host the opening World Cup race of the 2021-2022 season from November 19-21. Points earned through race results will contribute towards qualification for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, which are 79 days away.

The schedule is as follows, with all times listed in local time:

Friday, November 19

10 a.m.: Men’s skeleton run #1

11:45 a.m.: Men’s skeleton run #2

2:30 p.m.: Women’s skeleton run #1

4 p.m.: Women’s skeleton run #2

Saturday, November 20

9 a.m.: Women’s monobob run #1

10:30 a.m.: Women’s monobob run #2

1:30 p.m.: Two-man bobsled run #1

3 p.m.: Two-man bobsled run #2

Sunday, November 21

9 a.m.: Two-woman bobsled run #1

10:30 a.m.: Two-woman bobsled run #2

1:30 p.m.: Four-man bobsled run #1

3 p.m.: Four-man bobsled run #2

Three-time Olympian John Daly (Smithtown, N.Y.) and Austin Florian (Southington, Conn.) will represent the U.S. in the men’s skeleton field. Daly’s personal best World Cup finish was fifth in January 2014, while Florian’s best-to-date was 14th in January 2021.

Four-time Olympian Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.), Megan Henry (Roxbury, Conn.) and Kelly Curtis (Princeton, N.J.) will fulfill the three quota spots in the women’s race for Team USA. Uhlaender’s best finish on the Igls track was a silver medal performance in January 2007. Henry’s only World Cup entry in Igls was in January 2020, when she earned the bronze medal. Curtis has never raced in Igls before, and this will be only her second career World Cup race.

Kaillie Humphries (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Elana Meyers Taylor (Douglasville, Ga.), both three-time Olympic medalists, will compete in the women’s monobob competition on Saturday. Sylvia Hoffman (Arlington, Texas), the reigning national push champion, will compete with Humphries in Sunday’s two-woman bobsled race, while Olympic bronze medalist Aja Evans (Chicago, Ill.) will push with Meyers Taylor. Humphries and Meyers Taylor have a history of success in Igls, finishing 1-2, respectively, last season. Humphries has a career five World Cup medals on the Austrian track, and Meyers Taylor has collected a career seven in Igls to date.

Hunter Church (Cadyville, N.Y.) and Kris Horn (Pembroke, Mass.) are paired together for Saturday’s two-man bobsled race. Josh Williamson (Lake Mary, Fla.), Charlie Volker (Fair Haven, N.J.) and Hakeem Abdul Saboor (Powhatan, Va.) are scheduled to compete with Church on Sunday in four-man. Church’s only World Cup in Austria was in January 2020, when he claimed his first career World Cup medal – a bronze– in the four-man race.

Codie Bascue (Whitehall, N.Y.) will team up with Carlo Valdes (Newport Beach, Calif.) in the two-man event. Blaine McConnell (Tacoma, Wash.) and Jimmy Reed (Garmisch, Germany) will join Valdes as Bascue’s four-man push crew on Sunday. Bascue will look to better his personal best finish of seventh in Igls from a December 2017 World Cup race this weekend.

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

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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.

World Cup season kicks off this week in Igls

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