YANQING, China (February 15, 2022) – Two-woman bobsled official training kicked off today at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre, and four-man bobsled training begins tomorrow after the final two heats of the two-man competition tonight. Teams will get three days of official training before the two-woman competition from February 18-19, and the four-man race from February 19-20.

Kaillie Humphries (Carlsbad, Calif.) will compete with Kaysha Love (Herriman, Utah), and Elana Meyers Taylor (Douglasville, Ga.) will race with Sylvia Hoffman (Arlington, Texas) in the two-woman event.

Hunter Church’s (Cadyville, N.Y.) four-man crew will be Josh Williamson (Lake Mary, Fla.), Kris Horn (Pembroke, Mass.) and Charlie Volker (Fair Haven, N.J.). Frank Del Duca (Bethel, Maine) will team up with Carlo Valdes (Newport Beach, Calif.), Jimmy Reed (Garmisch, Germany) and Hakeem Abdul Saboor (Powhatan, Va.).

The complete two-woman and four-man bobsled schedule from the Yanqing National Sliding Centre is below, with all times listed in local time:

Tuesday, February 15

2- 4:15 p.m.: Two-woman bobsled official training #1

Wednesday, February 16

9:30 a.m.- 12:15 p.m.: Four-man bobsled official training #1

2- 4:15 p.m.: Two-woman bobsled official training #2

Thursday, February 17

9:30 a.m.- 12:15 p.m.: Four-man bobsled official training #2

2- 4:15 p.m.: Two-woman bobsled official training #3

Friday, February 18

9:30 a.m.- 12:15 p.m.: Four-man bobsled official training #3

8- 10:15 p.m.: Two-woman bobsled race heats 1 & 2

Saturday, February 19

9:30 a.m.- 12:05 p.m.: Four-man bobsled race heats 1 & 2

8- 10:30 p.m.: Two-woman bobsled race heats 3 & 4

Sunday, February 20

9:30 a.m.- 12:25 p.m.: Four-man bobsled race heats 3 & 4

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Here’s what the American athletes that were in official training had to say today:

Elana Meyers Taylor

(on how much rest she was able to get after winning the silver medal yesterday in women’s monobob)

That’s the biggest thing, just trying to recover as much as possible and also get some quality training runs in. I’m pretty tired, I’m not going to lie. It took a lot to do what we did yesterday, so just trying to come down off of that and trying to reset. It’s definitely going to be a challenge for everyone out here who did monobob as well.

(on how late she was up last night after the medal ceremony)

Not too late, I think we did interviews until about 10 or 11 o’clock. The hardest thing for me is just coming down off of races anyway because of adrenaline. I always have trouble getting to sleep. I think I sent out a message to the team at like 3 a.m., just sleeping in waves, trying to figure out how to make it happen. I think the hardest thing for me is usually Nic calms me down, and Nic is able to make sure I get to sleep, but I can’t sleep in the same room as him right now. He’ll get out of close contact tomorrow, so hopefully that will help.

Sylvia Hoffman 

(on how it’s been waiting for her turn to train and compete)

It’s been one of those things, a hurry up and wait type scenario because we got here on the 27th and then I wasn’t able to do any of the previous training runs before official training started for monobob. I’ve been pretty antsy to get into the sled. I’ve been going on track walks, I’ve been watching videos, and just trying to support the ladies the best way I can until it’s my turn to get into the sled and my turn to do what I need to do to make sure that me and Elana get down the hill as fast as possible. I’ve been super excited for everything, but today was the day– I’m going to go down the hill and it’s going to be amazing.

(on if she was overwhelmed today)

I think I had a calm sense of where I am and what I need to do for today. I feel like there’s a lot to do within our two to three official training days, so for me it’s just about coming in, executing, doing what I need to do to make sure me and Elana have the best push going down the hill. I think most of my excitement was yesterday. I got to watch Elana and Kaillie and everyone else in the world do their best out here, and then we had two of our best pilots in the world for Team USA win silver and gold, back-to-back. That for me was super exciting to watch and witness, and be present in the moment and just enjoy it and come out the next day and be like, OK, they went out and handled their business for the monobob event, now it’s time for two-woman. It’s time for me to do what I need to do to make sure we come away with a gold medal.

Kaillie Humphries

(on sliding the day after winning gold in the women’s monobob competition)

Sliding the next day, never done that before! I’m tired, I won’t lie. I had to rely heavily on Kaysha. I was like, ‘don’t look at the numbers. Let’s work on our timing. Let’s focus on the steps and the process.’ I don’t have much so she really had to step up today, but I’ll be ready come two-man race day. 

(on if she will take a day off before the two-woman competition)

We’re gonna do two more tomorrow and then both her and I have decided it’s going to be best for us collectively as a team, as well as it’s what we want individually which is nice. Our individual plans line up with what we want as a team to take that day off before going into two days of racing. 

(on taking the day off before a competition)

It worked a couple of days ago, but both Kaysha and I are used to having the day off before a race as well. So just from the performance aspect, we’re used to training, having a day and then going into racing, so just sticking with consistency, with what we know, and doing our own personal plan and what’s best for us.

(on how different it is competing in two races at the Olympics)

It’s different having to plan and prepare and knowing that you can’t just stay up until all hours and not really care afterwards. I have another race. I’m accountable to another person and still to Team USA. This is what we asked for so here we go! Right back into it again, a whole other event, but I’m really, really excited for it. I’m excited to be teammates with Kaysha and to see what we can do.

Kaysha Love

(on if seeing the medals that Elana Meyers Taylor and Kaillie Humphries won made it feel real)

It became really real, real fast. It was just inspiring to see the entire season of what Kaillie has gone through, through thick and thin, literally from day one of the season to yesterday, was just incredible. To watch her journey and how she handled all of that and all of the pressure that came her way was just inspiring and it made me super excited to know that I’m going to be in the back of her sled in a couple days and to potentially do that same thing. So it’s just a very good feeling to know that she’s giving her all out there and it’s an honor to be pushing her for our country.

(on waiting for the two-woman bobsled competition to start)

It’s definitely been like an anxious feeling. It’s kinda getting antsy to get out there and get started but monobob really helped, like honing in and helping Kaillie get on the track. She can’t win that medal without teamwork so I just put some of that antsy energy into making sure that she doesn’t have to worry about the stuff on the back end. All she has to worry about is driving and staying focused there, and so that kind of helped some of my energy, steering it towards making sure the sleds were ready, sanding runners, all that stuff.

(on her game plan going into race day)

Just taking it day by day. I am a big believer of not making a moment bigger than it is. This is the same rodeo, just a different show. We’re in the exact same place, we’re competing against the same girls, it’s the same stuff we’ve been doing. My job is easy, I’m just pushing Kaillie, so it’s just that simple. I’m just trying to take it day by day and not overthink anything and just let it be what it’s going to be. 

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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.