The US seems to have gotten on track in the four-man and two-woman events having won three medals in each event over the last three Olympics. The story is not so great in the two-man event where the US hasn’t won a medal in 62 years. With some experienced teams returning, including a team that nearly won the bronze at the last world championship, is 2014 the year to end that streak?
Bobsleigh’s Olympic History
Bobsleigh was one of the first Winter Olympic events debuting in 1924 but it has not been held consecutively since then. The one year it was not held was in 1960 when the organizers of the games in Squaw Valley, California didn’t want to spend the money to build a track. The original event was the four-man event while a two-man version was added in 1932. Women’s bobsleigh didn’t debut until 2002 when a two-woman version was added.
Switzerland has won 30 of the 124 bobsleigh medals contested but Germany has the most gold medals with ten of the 42. The US ranks third in both categories with 21 medals, seven of them gold.
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How the Bobsleigh Competitions Work
Bobsleigh’s competitions use sleds that are rode in by teams of two or four. One of the athletes is the driver while another works the breaks. In the four-man competition the other two are there to help push start the sled before jumping in and just riding along. All of the bobsleigh competitions involve four runs over two days with the total time determining the winners.
US Team
The team is made up of eight men and six women. Six of the athletes are returning from Vancouver and two of them were part of the team in Turin. Oh and two of the athletes were part of the Summer Olympic team in Beijing and London, one of them also part of the team in Athens.
Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.
US Bobsleigh
Men:
Cory Butner
Nick Cunningham*
Christopher Fogt*
Steve Holcomb**
Steven Langton*
Johnny Quinn
Dallas Robinson
Curtis Tomasevicz**
Women:
Aja Evans
Jazmine Fenlator
Jamie Greubel
Lolo Jones&
Elana Meyers*
Lauryn Williams^
* – Was on team in Vancouver
** – Was on team in Vancouver & Turin
& – Was in Summer Olympics in London and Beijing
^ – Was in Summer Olympics in London, Beijing, and Athens
A Sochi 2014 Bobsleigh list on twitter including all of these athletes
US Team’s Olympic History
Nick Cunningham made his Olympic debut in 2010 competing in both the two-man and four-man events. Cunningham rode with Mike Kohn in both events and had Jamie Moriarty and Bill Schuffenhauer in the four-man. In the two-man event the team finished 12th while their four-man team finished 13th.
Another first time Olympian in Vancouver was Christopher Fogt who was part of a four-man team with John Napier, Charles Berkeley, and first time Olympian Steven Langton. Their team had a crash in the second run and did not compete in the third or fourth runs.
Steve Holcomb was a drive in Vancouver who piloted a two-man team with Curtis Tomasevicz and a four-man team with Tomasevicz, Justin Olsen, and Steve Mesler. The two-man team came in sixth while the four-man team set the track record on each of their first two runs en route to a gold medal.
Both Holcomb and Tomasevicz were part of a same four-man team in Turin where they teamed with Lorenzo Smith III and Bill Schuffenhauer. That team came in sixth. Holcomb also drove a two-man team with Schuffenhauer that came in 14th.
Making her debut in Vancouver, Elana Meyers ran the brakes in a two-woman sled with Erin Pac in Vancouver. The duo won a bronze medal despite having the eighth fastest final run.
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Schedule
All Times ET, * indicates medals awarded
Sunday, February 16th
11:15 AM – Two-man Heat 1
12:50 PM – Two-man Heat 2
Monday, February 17th
9:30 AM – Two-man Heat 3
*11:05 AM – Two-man Heat 4
Tuesday, February 18th
10:15 AM – Women’s Heat 1
11:23 AM – Women’s Heat 2
Wednesday, February 19th
11:15 AM – Women’s Heat 3
*12:23 PM – Women’s Heat 4
Saturday, February 22nd
11:30 AM – Four-man Heat 1
1 PM – Four-man Heat 2
Sunday, February 23rd
4:30 AM – Four-man Heat 3
*6 AM – Four-man Heat 4
US Team’s Recent World Championship History
Bobsleigh’s world championships are held as part of the FIBT World Championships. The most recent one took place in 2013 in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
In the men’s two-man event the Olympic team of Steven Holcomb/Steven Langton competed and came in fourth, just 0.08 seconds behind the bronze. Cory Butner drove a two-man sled (though with Christopher Fogt, not his Olympic partner) that finished ninth. Another driver from Sochi, Nick Cunningham, had a two-man sled (with Dallas Robinson, not his Olympic partner) that came in 13th.
In the four-man event the team of Steven Holcomb/Steven Langton/Curtis Tomasevicz/Justin Olsen got the bronze medal. This team will largely stay intact for Sochi with Olsen switching with Christopher Fogt. Another four-man team involving Nick Cunningham and Christopher Fogt (none of Cunningham’s team mates for Sochi were on this sled) came in 19th. There was a third four-man team in the event for the US, the only Olympian on it was Johnny Quinn. The team came in 30th and didn’t make the 20-team cut for the final run.
On the women’s side the top US team was that of Elana Meyers who was with Katie Eberling (not part of team in Sochi). That team came in second to win the silver. Meyers’ partner in Sochi, Aja Evans, teamed with Jazmine Fenlator for an eighth place finish.
The U.S. Army via Compfight cc
US Olympic History
The US was one of the dominant countries in the early years of the four-man bobsled competition winning eight medals in the first seven games. After 1956 thought it was a long 46 year wait until their next medals in 2002. In the last three Olympics the US has won a gold, silver, and bronze with the gold coming in 2010.
The US was also one of the top countries in the early two-man bobsled event as they won six medals in the first four events. Again a drought happened though as the US has not won a medal since 1952, 62 years and counting. In 2010 the best US competitors were sixth (Steve Holcomb/Curtis Tomasevicz) less than a half a second from a medal.
The two-woman event has only been contested three times but the US has won a gold, silver, and bronze already. Their most recent medal was the bronze in 2010 won by Erin Pac and Elana Meyers.
