IGLS, Austria (November 20, 2021) – Codie Bascue (Whitehall, N.Y.) and Carlo Valdes (Newport Beach, Calif.) finished fifth in the two-man bobsled World Cup opener in Igls today. Bascue and Valdes had the second fastest time in the first heat, and today’s finish is Bascue’s personal best two-man result in Igls. Hunter Church (Cadyville, N.Y.) and Kris Horn (Pembroke, Mass.) finished 20th. Church continues to rehabilitate after surgery to repair a broken toe. He’s had less than a dozen runs in a two-man sled this season, and only three runs in a four-man sled.

“This is Codie’s best finish on European soil, and I was certainly proud of him and really excited for him to be in second place after the first run,” said USA Bobsled Driving Coach Brian Shimer. “Hunter had a late start to the season with a broken toe, but he’s a talented driver and he’s going to get back into the swing of things. Our athletes were itching to get on ice, you could tell they were fired up and excited to race.”

Bascue’s personal best two-man finish on the Austrian track before today was seventh, and his best two-man finish on a European track was sixth in St. Moritz, Switzerland during the 2018 Olympic season.

“We went into this weekend feeling confident after some good training runs in training,” Carlo and I have a good synergy, and we’ve been pushing together for awhile, so it was great to race with him today. I was really excited about the possibility of getting a medal, but I’m still happy with the result.”

Bascue and Valdes started their campaign for the medals with the seventh best start time of 5.14 seconds. Bascue continued to find time down the track, and the team crossed the finish line with the second fastest downtime of 51.61 seconds. Reigning world champion Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Shueller of Germany were the only team that was faster.

Bascue and Valdes pushed off the block in 5.15 seconds, but the sled veered to the right out of the initial corner. Small mistakes were enough in a tightly packed field to bump the Americans out of the medals with a run of 52.00. Bascue and Valdes finished fifth with a combined time of 1:43.61. 

“The guys have come into this season the best I’ve seen, and it’s because of ice house in Lake Placid,” Bascue said. “Our start today was part of the reason we did well, and I think we owe part of that to the ice house. Both U.S. men’s teams are going to be surprising people all season.”

Friedrich and Schueller held onto their lead, winning by nearly half a second with a two-run total of 1:42.85. The pair also had the fastest start time of the day– 5.07. Germans Johannes Lochner and Florian Bauer claimed the silver medal with a total time of 1:43.32, followed by Brad Hall and Greg Cacket from Great Britain with an aggregate time of 1:43.48 in third.

Church and Horn mustered start times of 5.24 and 5.26 seconds, which were 25th and 20th fastest of the day. Hunter made up time during the run in both heats, but he eventually ran out of track to continue gaining on the competition. The crew clocked downtimes of 52.04 and 52.14 seconds for a total time of 1:44.18 to finish 20th. 

Church’s only World Cup in Austria before this week was in January 2020, when he claimed his first career World Cup medal – a bronze– in the four-man race. 

The Igls World Cup resumes tomorrow with two-woman bobsled at 9 a.m. and four-man bobsled at 1:30 p.m. local time. Fans can stream the races via desktop at http://olympics.com/en/live/, and via mobile, tablet and connected television platforms on the Olympic Channel app. Please check your local listings for coverage 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. Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schueller (GER) 1:42.85 (51.27, 51.58);

2. Johannes Lochner and Florian Bauer (GER) 1:43.32 (51.69, 51.63);

3. Brad Hall and Greg Cackett (GBR) 1:43.48 (51.69, 51.79);

5. Codie Bascue and Carlo Valdes (USA) 1:43.61 (51.61, 52.00);

20. Hunter Church and Kris Horn (USA) 1:44.18 (52.04, 52.14)

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.