Del Duca Wins Penultimate NAC 2-man Gold

From Lake Placid, USA

(March 23, 2023) – Frank Del Duca and brakeman Darius Joseph took gold against a strong North American Cup field in the penultimate race on the NAC two-man calendar.

Del Duca drove his American sled to the lead by .06 over teammates Geoff Gadbois and Paul Rabic after the first heat, with Canada’s Pat Norton and Keaton Bruggeling lingering in third.

On the second run it was Norton who set the quick time of the heat to move into the lead with Gadbois and Del Duca still to slide.

Gadbois’s second slide was enough to move him into the lead, .11 ahead of Norton to guarantee the United States a gold medal.

Del Duca’s final drive couldn’t quite match the speed of the Canadians, but he had enough in his first run to take gold by .1 over Gadbois and .21 over Norton.

The gold for Del Duca was his sixth in his last eight North American Cup two-man races. For Gadbois, the silver was his third straight in two-man NAC competition.

Norton’s bronze was his fourth NAC two-man bronze in a row.

Switzerland’s Timo Rohner had the fourth quickest downtime in both heats on his way to a fourth place finish. Kris Horn helped put three American sleds in the top five with a fifth place finish.

Italy’s Mattia Variola rounded out the top six on the strength of the quickest start in both heats alongside brakeman Jose Obou.

For the first time in recent memory, Germany entered sleds in the North American Cup two-man competition, with Nico Semmler leading the way in seventh. Max Illmann finished ninth and Hans Peter Hannighofer tenth.

Canada’s Orion Edwards finished 12th to round out the Canadian effort.

Results: