World Cup finale to take place on all-natural track in St. Moritz this week
by USA Bobsled/Skeleton
Contact: Amanda Bird, USABS Marketing and Communications Director
(518) 354-2250, amanda.bird@usabs.com
World Cup finale to take place on all-natural track in St. Moritz this week
View of the St. Mortiz track
Photo credit: IBSF / Viesturs Lacis
ST MORITZ, Switzerland (January 11, 2022) – The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation World Cup tour will make its eighth and final stop in St. Mortiz, Switzerland this week. It will be a race within a race for many athletes as they compete one last time for points to qualify for the quickly approaching 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
The schedule is as follows, with all times listed in local time:
Friday, January 14
9 a.m.: Women’s skeleton run #1
10:30 a.m.: Women’s skeleton run #2
1 p.m.: Men’s skeleton run #1
2:45 p.m.: Men’s skeleton run #2
Saturday, January 15
9 a.m.: Women’s monobob run #1
10:30 a.m.: Women’s monobob run #2
1 p.m.: Two-man bobsled run #1
2:30 p.m.: Two-man bobsled run #2
Sunday, January 2
9 a.m.: Two-woman bobsled run #1
10:30 a.m.: Two-woman bobsled run #2
1 p.m.: Four-man bobsled run #1
2:30 p.m.: Four-man bobsled run #2
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.
Elana Meyers Taylor (Douglasville, Ga.) will again team up with Kaysha Love (Herriman, Utah) in this week’s two-woman bobsled competition. Kaillie Humphries (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Sylvia Hoffman (Arlington, Texas) are also paired together for the second consecutive week. This will be Meyers Taylor’s ninth World Cup in St. Moritz as a driver. She’s medaled in the last five events, and four of those medals were gold. Humphries has competed in 16 World Cup races in St. Moritz as a driver. Three of those races were at the helm of a four-man bobsled. Humphries claimed four medals on the Swiss track in two-woman bobsled, and she won the monobob competition on the all-natural track last year. Humphries also won the 2013 two-woman bobsled World Championship title in St. Moritz.
Hunter Church (Cadyville, N.Y.) is scheduled to compete with Carlo Valdes (Newport Beach, Calif.) in the two-man competition, while Josh Williamson (Lake Mary, Fla.), Charlie Volker (Fair Haven, N.J.), and Kris Horn (Pembroke, Mass.) will race with Church in four-man. Frank Del Duca (Bethel, Maine) and Williamson are teamed up in two-man. Del Duca’s four-man crew will consist of Hakeem Abdul Saboor (Powhatan, Va.), Kyle Wilcox (Tampa, Fla.) and Valdes. Church has had limited ice time in St. Mortiz. This will be his second career World Cup competition on the Swiss track. He also competed in the 2018 Junior World Championships in St. Moritz. Del Duca has raced in St. Mortiz before, but as a push athlete for Steven Holcomb. He’s driving the Swiss track for the first time this week.
Andrew Blaser (Meridian, Idaho) and Austin Florian (Southington, Conn.) will represent the U.S. in the men’s skeleton field. Blaser raced in St. Moritz at the 2020 World Cup, while this will be Florian’s fourth career World Cup race in Switzerland.
Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.), Megan Henry (Roxbury, Conn.) and Kelly Curtis (Princeton, N.J.) are battling it out for the two women’s skeleton Olympic spots for the U.S. The American women are currently ranked back-to-back, with Henry holding a slight lead of 12 points ahead of Uhlaender, and Curtis just 36 points from Uhlaender. Uhlaender has the most experience of the three with 11 World Cup races and two World Championships in St. Moritz under her belt, though the last time she medaled on the Swiss track was in 2008. Henry has raced in one World Cup in St. Moritz, while this is Curtis’ first time ever on the all natural track.
For media inquiries, please contact USABS Marketing and Communications Director Amanda Bird at amanda.bird@usabs.com.
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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.