TEAM USA CELEBRATES ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SEASON

LAKE PLACID, NY (April 4, 2024)- The 2023/2024 sliding season has officially come to a close for Team USA. USA Bobsled/Skeleton (USABS) would like to take a moment to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of all our athletes, coaches and staff, as well as our team partners who helped make this season possible and an overall success. With the help of all those who support the team, we were able to travel to eight different countries, slide on nine unique and individually challenging tracks and win dozens of medals for the Stars and Stripes.

“I’m very proud of the resiliency displayed by the athletes all season. It was a grueling schedule for our athletes that started in the fall and culminated with Selection Races and National Championships last week. We had a number of athletes exceed expectations at each level of competition setting us up for a very promising future. Each season is an important stepping stone toward the next Olympics and it is crucial that we take advantage of every opportunity to get better during the season as well as in the off-season,” shared Curt Tomesevicz, Director of Sport Performance for USABS.

In the World Cup division, USABS saw 34 top-six finishes and 14 top-three finishes (totals for top 6 finishes include the top-three finishes). The team had five top-six World Championship finishes, with Elana Meyers Taylor earning a silver medal in monobob. 

The World Cup team had four total top-six final rankings; in Monobob, Kaysha Love ended the reason ranked fourth and Meyers Taylor ranked fifth. In 2-Woman, Meyers-Taylor ranked fifth, and in Bobsled Combined Women, she ranked fourth.

In the overall IBSF rankings for the season, the team saw eight top-six rankings. In 2-Man Bobsled, Frank Del Duca ranked sixth overall. In 2-Woman Bobsled, Meyers Taylor ranked sixth overall as well. In Women’s Skeleton, Mystique Ro ranked fourth overall. In Women’s Monobob, Meyers Taylor ranked fourth and Love ranked fifth overall. In Bobsled Combined Women, Meyers Talyor ranked third and Love ranked fifth, and in 2-Woman, Meyers Taylor ranked fifth.

“The season brought many challenges but also a lot of growth and great results. With a handful of medals and athletes finding personal bests, I feel we are on track. The goal of our team has been to continue to build over the quad with the focus being on Lake Placid World Champs in 2025 and the 2026 Olympics. I look forward to continuing to build on the success of this season as we approach those,” shared Matt Antoine, Head Skeleton Coach for USABS.

In the Para Sport division, the team had 15 top-six finishes and 8 top-three finishes. In the Para Sport World Championships, the team had one top-three finish and one top-six finish. In terms of overall Para Sport rankings, Bob Balk ended his season ranked third in the world and Will Castillo ended ranked sixth in the world.

In the North American Cup (NAC) division, the team saw an astonishing 86 top-six finishes and 41 top-three finishes. The NAC team impressively saw 17 total top-six rankings. In Men’s Skeleton, Bradley Nicol ended the season ranked fifth. In Women’s Skeleton, Katie Uhlaender and Logan Wudi ended up ranked first and second. In Bobsled Combined Men, Kris Horn took first and Geoff Gadbois took fourth. In 2-Man, Horn placed first and Gadbois took fifth. In 4-Man, Horn again took first and Gadbois took second. In Bobsled Combined Women, Riley Tejcek placed third, Sylvia Hoffman placed fourth and Lauren Brzozowski placed sixth. In 2-Woman, Hoffman placed second, Brzozowski placed third and Tejcek placed fifth. In Women’s Monobob, Tejcek took fourth and Brzozowski took sixth. In the Europe Cup (EC) division, USABS had five top-six finishes and one top-three finish. 

“I am really pleased with the way the development athletes improved this year. I feel like their confidence grew in understanding how to make adjustments improving driving lines. All the pilots are ready for new tracks and challenges. I wish we could have developed more newer pilots to build on the pool of athletes we have, but maybe next year,” shared USA Bobsled Coach Shauna Rohbock.

“The USA skeleton team's season was filled with breakthrough personal best results at all levels of the program. These results come from many years of hard work in the shadows away from the cameras of World Cup. As we celebrate our visible results, it is critical we recognize the entire journey from day one to day "gold medal" and all of the ups and downs in between. This year we celebrate both results and the hard work needed to get there,” shared Caleb Smith, USA Skeleton Coach.

The 2023/2024 sliding season also included the exciting addition of the first-ever Pan American Championships, the newest counterpart to the annual European Championships. In this new series of competitions, Team USA had 18 top-six finishes and 14 top-three finishes.

This season. the Jr. Pan American Championships, Jr. Pan American Championships U20, and Jr. Pan American Championships U23 were also introduced in Lake Placid. Team USA had nine top-six finishes and nine top-three finishes total in these new categories. Additionally, in the Youth Series division, the team saw six top-six finishes and two top-three finishes. In regards to individual youth athlete rankings, John Lansing ended his season ranked sixth in the world in Boy’s Monobob while Emily Bradley placed fourth overall in Girl’s Monobob for the season.

“The last two seasons coaching our youth athletes has been an incredible world adventure but most importantly I could not be more proud of what these young athletes have done post YOG. It is great to see the transition these athletes have made to two-person sleds and what quality of drivers they are. After participating in their first senior-level events, they are hungry to train hard and progress their way deeper into sliding sports. I would also like to thank the families for being so supportive and making this journey a rewarding success for all involved,” shared Bryan Berghorn, Youth USA Bobsled Coach.

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About USA Bobsled/Skeleton

USA Bobsled/Skeleton is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton racing in the United States. Based in Lake Placid, NY, USA Bobsled/Skeleton oversees the development and training of American athletes at all levels of competition.