From Lake Placid, USA
(March 26, 2023) – One race after dominating the North American Cup field in Lake Placid, Jacob Salisbury had to come from behind to win gold in the NAC season finale.
The British slider entered the second heat in third place, behind USA’s Bradley Nicol and Canada’s Kyle Donsberger. On his second run, Salisbury was the quickest at every split along the course to slide into the lead with Donsberger and Nicol to go.
The Canadian was next, and while Donsberger was quicker than most in the heat, he was unable to match Salisbury’s excellent second run and fell into second with one to go.
Nicol, looking for his first ever medal of any kind, was the final slider down. His start was only bested by the very quick Salisbury, and for the first portion of his slide Nicol was ahead of Salisbury. However as Nicol crossed the finish line for the final time in the 2022/2023 season, he found himself .14 behind Salisbury in second place.
The gold for Salisbury was his second straight, while the silver for Nicol was his first ever in IBSF international competition.
After the event, Nicol asked to make sure it was known that he “used to really suck at this”.
Donsberger won bronze for his third career NAC medal and second straight. All three medals have come in Lake Placid.
Canada’s Ryan Kuehn finished fourth, which tied a career best. Switzerland’s Vinzenz Buff and the Netherlands Mike Rogals tied for fifth to round out the top six.
Matt Fortney and Nick Tucker finished 11th and 13th to round out the American effort, while Jordan Rwiyamilira and Troy Wilson finished 12th and 15th for Canada.
Ireland’s Brendan Doyle came into the final race of the season as the point leader, but had injured his quad a day earlier. Pushing off with one leg, Doyle finished 16th, which coupled with Donsberger’s bronze medal gave Doyle the season title by seven points. Ryan Kuehn finished the season in third, five points behind Donsberger.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Jacob Salisbury | GBR | 8 | 4.77 | 4.80 | 55.29 | 55.43 | 1:50.72 |
| 2 | Bradley Nicol | USA | 1 | 4.90 | 4.91 | 55.05 | 55.81 | 1:50.86 |
| 3 | Kyle Donsberger | CAN | 13 | 5.05 | 5.09 | 55.14 | 55.89 | 1:51.03 |
| 4 | Ryan Kuehn | CAN | 10 | 5.02 | 5.01 | 55.44 | 55.84 | 1:51.28 |
| 5 | Vinzenz Buff | SUI | 4 | 5.12 | 5.13 | 55.33 | 56.02 | 1:51.35 |
| 5 | Mike Rogals | NED | 2 | 5.37 | 5.41 | 55.44 | 55.91 | 1:51.35 |
| 7 | Lucas Defayet | FRA | 12 | 5.01 | 5.00 | 55.52 | 55.90 | 1:51.42 |
| 8 | Rasmus Johansen | DEN | 7 | 5.11 | 5.13 | 55.61 | 56.07 | 1:51.68 |
| 9 | Jonathan Yaw | MAS | 9 | 5.11 | 5.12 | 55.54 | 56.30 | 1:51.84 |
| 10 | Livio Summermatter | SUI | 6 | 4.89 | 4.93 | 56.19 | 55.73 | 1:51.92 |
| 11 | Matthew Fortney | USA | 3 | 5.20 | 5.28 | 55.95 | 56.46 | 1:52.41 |
| 12 | Jordan Rwiyamilira | CAN | 17 | 5.05 | 5.01 | 56.34 | 56.38 | 1:52.72 |
| 13 | Nicholas Tucker | USA | 14 | 4.96 | 5.03 | 56.14 | 56.64 | 1:52.78 |
| 14 | Akwasi Frimpong | GHA | 11 | 4.94 | 4.95 | 57.17 | 56.59 | 1:53.76 |
| 15 | Troy Wilson | CAN | 16 | 5.12 | 5.03 | 57.01 | 57.27 | 1:54.28 |
| 16 | Brendan Doyle | IRL | 5 | 6.30 | 6.20 | 58.21 | 58.09 | 1:56.30 |
| 17 | Roh-Dayne Edwards | JAM | 17 | 5.51 | 5.63 | 61.21 | 60.08 | 2:01.29 |
| 18 | Adeson Pollock | JAM | 18 | 6.42 | 6.20 | 62.87 | 62.87 | 2:05.74 |
