Calgary Hosts First World Cup Event on Friday

The Olympic season commences with the first World Cup event in Calgary, Canada this week.  The U.S. national team has spent weeks preparing for the start of the season and is eager to pave the road to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games with medal performances.

It's been two years since the national team raced in a Calgary World Cup event. The tour skipped Calgary last season, and several team members opted out of racing the Calgary event during the 2011-2012 season in favor of additional training on the 2012 World Championship track in Lake Placid, N.Y.  The U.S. team has a proven track record on the 1988 Olympic track, and is looking to start the 2013-2013 season on the podium. 

Noelle Pikus-Pace (Orem, Utah), Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.), John Daly (Smithtown, N.Y.), Matt Antoine (Prairie du Chien, Wisc.) and Kyle Tress (Ewing, N.J.) will be a tough squad to beat in the skeleton competitions. Pikus-Pace and Uhlaender hope to carry momentum from their 1-2 finishes on the 2014 Olympic track last season.  Daly had two fourth-place results in 2012-2013, and he'll be eager be eager to crack into the medals for the first time in his career. Antoine is on a roll after sweeping the U.S. skeleton selection races, and Tress is eager to maintain a third spot for the men's team by posting a top-10 finish.

Elana Meyers (Douglasville, Ga.) and Aja Evans (Chicago. Ill.) will race the BMW branded sled as USA-1 on Friday, and the crew is chasing more than a medal, but potentially a start record. Jamie Greubel (Newtown, Pa.) and Katie Eberling (Palos Hills, Ill.) will be stiff competition for Meyers and Evans from start to finish in the Putinka sled, while Jazmine Fenlator (Wayne, N.J.) and Lolo Jones (Des Moines, Iowa) will be in the mix in the Sliding for Hope sled.

Steven Holcomb (Park City, Utah) will partner with his Night Train II crew of Curt Tomasevicz (Shelby, Neb.), Steve Langton (Melrose, Mass.) and Chris Fogt (Alpine, Utah). Langton is expected to race with Holcomb in the Under Armour two-man sled. 

Nick Cunningham (Monterey, Calif.) will pilot the Century 21 four-man sled with Dallas Robinson (Georgetown, Ky.), Johnny Quinn (McKinney, Texas) and Abe Morlu (Phoenix, Ariz.).  Cunningham will pilot the two-man 24 Hour Fitness sled with Robinson on the brakes.

Cory Butner (Yucaipa, Calif.), Chuck Berkeley (Walnut Creek, Calif.), Andreas Drbal (Belmont, Calif.) and Chris Langton (Melrose, Mass.) will race the CEVA four-man sled, and Butner and Berkeley will race the KOA two-man sled on Friday.

The Calgary World Cup race schedule is as follows, with all times listed in local time:

Friday, Nov. 29:
12 pm: Men's skeleton heat 1
1:15 pm: Women's skeleton heat 2
2:30 pm: Men's skeleton heat 2
3:30 pm: Women's skeleton heat 2
6 pm: Men's two-man bobsled heat 1
7:30 pm: Men's two-man bobsled heat 2

Saturday, Nov. 30:
10 am: Men's four-man bobsled heat 1
11:30 am: Men's four-man bobsled heat 2
2 pm: Women's bobsled heat 1
3:30 pm: Women's bobsled heat  

The Universal Sports broadcast schedule can be found here.  Please check your local listings for updated viewing information prior to the event.

The Park City, Utah North American Cup started last Thursday and will conclude on Wednesday with the third and final four-man race before the tour moves on to Lake Placid, N.Y. Codie Bascue (Whitehall, N.Y.), Jake Peterson (Princeton, Minn.), Jay Noller (San Antonio, Texas) and Colin Coughlin (Fishkill, N.Y.) are expected to pilot sleds for the U.S.

Wednesday, Nov. 27
10 am: Men's four-man bobsled

Schedules are subject to change, so please check the official USBSF website for updates.  Please contact Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Director, at abird@usbsf.com or 518-354-2250 with media inquiries.

About the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation: The United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. The USBSF would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Century 21 Real Estate, Under Armour, Kampgrounds of America, CEVA, Eastern European Distribution Company, KBC Helmets, Boomerang Carnets, Latta Kefir, 24 Hour Fitness, Azad Watches, Park City Lodging, Inc., Ludus Tours, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Autism Speaks, EDAS/Ripxx, Tesa Tape, UberSense and Ferris Mfg. Corp. For more information, please visit the USBSF website at http://bobsled.teamusa.org.