The 2014 Olympic season is coming up, and athletes are training hard working toward making their nations’ national teams. While the Olympics is the biggest event of the coming season (using the same format as a regular-season World Championships), there’s still a full season of racing leading up to the events on Sochi. In the coming weeks we’ll discuss the various names you can expect to see contending for medals throughout the year.
Men’s Skeleton
Current World Champion: Alexsandr Tretyakov (RUS)
Current Season Champion: Martins Dukurs (LAT)
Current Olympic Champion: Jon Montgomery (CAN)
Martins Dukurs.
Okay, now that we’ve got that name out of the way, there’s a bevy of athletes looking to dethrone Superman. The Latvian was beaten in the2012/2013 season a couple of times, including at the World Championships by his Russian counterpart Alexsandr Tretyakov. With that said, Dukurs took the Triple Crown at the end of the season, including a win at Tretyakov’s home track in Sochi. German Frank Rommel is the only other man to beat Dukurs since the latter part of 2010, and looks to have a strong showing in the Olympic season. Martins’s brother, Tomass, has shown signs of brilliance but has yet to unseat his brother at any event in the past three years. The equipment is obviously there, but it remains to be seen if Tomass can take a medal from Martins. Tretyakov will be joined again by World Championship bronze medalist Sergey Chudinov.
It was a mixed showing for the Americans in the 2012/2013 season, but John Daly had very strong showings at the 2013 World Championships in St. Mortiz and on the Olympic track in Sochi. Teammate Matt Antoine spent the past season on a partial “working rehab” from knee surgery. His pushes suffered, but as the season progressed, Antoine showed continual improvement. With a summer to actually rest and properly rehab, Antoine looked strong in trials. John Daly received a pass to the national team and looks to build on an extremely strong finish to the 2012/2013 season. Kyle Tress held the third spot on the men’s skeleton team and was able hold off strong competition in USA National Team trials to secure a spot in the Olympic year.
Much like the Americans, the Canadian team had varying results throughout the season, but finished strong in the latter portion of the year. There was a slight shuffle with the team, with Eric Neilson leading the way. He’ll be joined by John Fairbairn and World Cup rookie Dave Greszczyszyn. Olympic champion Jon Montgomery struggled through parts of the 2012/2103 season and will start the Olympic campaign on the Intercontinental Cup circuit.
Kristan Bromley (and his organization, Bromley Tech) has spent the last couple of seasons testing equipment for both himself and his partner Shelley Rudman. Rudman had a great showing in 2012/2013, so the equipment’s there, so look for Bromley go back to the top of the time sheets. Joining Bromley be Ed Smith and Dom Parsons. Both sliders showed a lot of promise in 2012/2013 and look to crack the top 10 more frequently in the coming season.
New Zealander Ben Sandford worked through back problems in 2012 and early 2013, but looks to rebound strong in the Olympic year. In the 2011/2012 season, he pulled off a medal in the Lake Placid World Championships, and is usually a contender at any track on the FIBT circuit.
Women’s Skeleton
Current World Champion: Shelley Rudman (GBR)
Current Season Champion: Marion Thees (GER)
Current Olympic Champion: Amy Williams (GBR)
Unlike their male counterparts, there’s been any number of ladies competing for gold at the various FIBT World Cup races over the past few years. Two Americans, a Brit, a few Canadians, a couple of Germans and an occasional Russian have taken gold, while athletes from all over the world have been in contention.
British Skeleton slider Shelley Rudman will come into the year as the defending World Champion, throwing down a pretty dominating set of runs in St. Moritz. Rudman has won at an assortment of tracks on the schedule, as well as putting down a solid run in the Olympic test event in Sochi. Not to be outdone, Lizzy Yarnold has won all over Europe and looks to continue that trend in the coming season. They’ll be joined by Donna Creighton, who had a solid season for the most part, but was unable to crack the bronze medal position.
An already solid American team spearheaded by 2012 World Champion Katie Uhlaender was boosted in 2012/2013 by a recently unretired Noelle Pikus-Pace. Pikus-Pace dominated the first few NAC races before joining Uhlaender on the World Cup circuit. There she took two gold medals and put forth solid showings in St. Moritz, earning a World Championship silver medal in the process.
The Canadian women might be the strongest three-woman team on tour. Veterans Sarah Reid and Cassie Hawrysh will be joined this season by World Cup rookie Robynne Thompson. Both Reid took gold during the season and finished with a bronze in World Championships. While Hawrysh saw some ups and downs, she finished with a solid top 10 world ranking. Look for all three to make a splash in the coming year. Team regular Mellisa Hollingsworth will join male counterpart Jon Montgomery on the ICC tour to start the season.
In what was a bit of a surprise, the German women struggled in the 2013 half of the 2012/2013 season, with Anja Huber, Marion Thees and Katharina Heinz all unable to crack the top five. All were strong on their home tracks, but had trouble finding speed outside of Germany.
Katharine Eustace of New Zealand had some solid runs in the 2012/2013 season, and even took some time to run the March North American Cup race in Lake Placid as a bit of an equipment test event. Joining her from the other side of the equator are Aussies Michelle Steele and Lucy Chaffer. Both sliders had good showings in 2013 and look to build on that in the coming season.
Women’s Bobsled
Current World Champion: Kaillie Humphries (CAN)
Current Season Champion: Kaillie Humphries (CAN)
Current Olympic Champion: Kaillie Humphries (CAN)
Much like in Men’s Skeleton, there’s one person to beat and then everyone else. Kaillie Humphries of Canada has dominated the women’s bobsled discipline over the last year and a half, having won over 75% of the races she’s been in, and hasn’t finished off the podium in seemingly forever. She’ll be the woman to beat again in the coming year, but there’s a pile of talent looking to take over her spot. Humphries’s brakewoman, Chelsea Valois, was a rookie in 2012/2013 and has yet to experience a race where she finished off the podium. Former brakewoman Jenny Ciochetti showed improvement in 2012/2013 and looks to become a solid top-10 pilot this season.
The Americans, in particular, look strong as ever. Elana Meyers has taken over as pilot of USA-1 and has shown moments of brilliance despite still being a relative newcomer to the driver’s seat, picking up medals along the way. Jamie Greubel will pilot USA-2 after a very strong showing in team trials, winning one of the races along the way. Jazmine Fenlator will continue piloting USA-3, looking to build on a successful 2012/2013 campaign. The Americans also boast a strong push squad, with Katie Eberling, Emily Azevedo, Aja Evans, Kristi Koplin, Lauryn Williams, and Lolo Jones making this one of the strongest women’s squads the US has ever enjoyed.
The Germans, as always, will compete most anywhere they go. Sandra Kirasis led the way last year, winning in the last few races in Sochi and St. Mortiz after going a couple of years without seeing a gold medal. Her comeback, coupled with consistent runs by teammates Cathleen Martini and Anja Schneiderheinze, makes the Germans dangerous as always.
A trend in the FIBT tour over the last few years has been off-season surgery for various athletes, and British Bobsleigh was no exception. Paula Walker’s season was uncharacteristically rough, with many finishes out of the top 10. She’ll look to rebound, though, as off-season knee surgery has helped strengthen her pushes and hopefully she’ll be a fixture contending for medals again. Rookie Mica McNeill had solid runs throughout the 2012/2013 lower circuit season and looks to put that experience to use in her first full season on the World Cup tour.
Two Man Bobsled
Current World Champion: Francesco Friedrich (GER)
Current Season Champion: Lyndon Rush (CAN)
Current Olympic Champion: Andre Lange (GER)
The 2012/2013 two man season was dominated by two pilots: American Steven Holcomb and Swiss slider Beat Hefti. Holcomb dominated the North American swing of the tour, but struggled some in Europe. Alternately, Hefti took top honors in three of the five European stops, including the Olympic track in Sochi, but had difficulty on the North American stops.
The American team will once again be anchored by 2012 World Champion Steven Holcomb, and for the second consecutive season will have Nick Cunningham and Cory Butner at the rings of USA-2 and USA-3 respectively. Butner is coming off end-of-season surgery and is looking for a strong rebound in this Olympic year.
The Germans always put forth a strong effort. In 2012/2013, the two-man effort was spearheaded by strong efforts by Francesco Friedrich, who tied for gold in Altenberg and took the top honors at the World Championships in St. Moritz. Friedrich will be joined by Thomas Florschuetz, Manuel Machata and Maxmillian Arndt to compete for the three-team Olympic roster.
Lyndon Rush led the way for the Canadian team, and saw teammate Chris Spring come on late, scoring at top six at the World Championships in St. Moritz and on the Olympic track in Sochi. Justin Kripps had a hit or miss first full season on the World Cup tour, but showed lots of improvement throughout the season and looks to use that momentum to a solid 2013/2014 Olympic season campaign.
John Jackson didn’t fare nearly as well in two man as he did in four man bobsled last season, but is hoping a fresh start to the season will help him gain footing toward the top of the very stacked bobsled pile. Lamin Deen will again take to the ice in GBR-2.
Four-Man Bobsled
Current World Champion: Maxmillian Arndt (GER)
Current Season Champion: Alexander Zubkov (RUS)
Current Olympic Champion: Steven Holcomb (USA)
The four man field has been much more wide open than the two man field. The Germans led the way late, with Maxmillian Arndt taking gold both in the World Championships in St. Moritz and in Igls, while pulling down silver in Königssee. Teammates Thomas Florschuetz and Manuel Machata spent the bulk of the season hot on his trail, though, leading to probably the strongest overall national team effort. They’ll have Francesco Friedrich vying for a spot on the Olympic roster, as well.
Right behind the Germans though are both the Americans and Canadians, both of whom had plenty of success throughout the season. Steven Holcomb continues to lead the USA four man effort, and despite some hiccups through the 2012/2013 season, Holcomb and company look to defend their 2010 Olympic title after a tough late campaign in 2013. Piloting USA 2 and USA 3 will be Nick Cunningham and Cory Butner. Both pilots saw highs and lows during the season, and both managed to pull out medals during the North American swing of the 2012/2013 season.
Much like in two man, Lyndon Rush has been the go-to pilot for the Canadian national team, being joined by Chris Spring and Justin Kripps. Both Rush and Spring scored medals during the 2012/2013 season, with Spring doing so while coming back from a disastrous crash in 2012. Kripps has been improving and showed plenty of potential during his first full season on the world tour after filling in mid-season in 2011/2012 for Spring.
Usually teams with a disappointing two-man effort struggle to keep up in four-man as well. Great Britain is not one of those teams. John Jackson and company had their issues during the two-man season, but put together a solid second half of the World cup season, culminating in solid finishes both in St. Moritz and Sochi.
Beat Hefti chose to sit out the 2011/2012 four-man competition all year, choosing to instead only run two man. The 2012/2013 season saw Hefti back in the front of a four-man sled, and the Swiss athlete saw himself challenging for the podium week in and week out.
The Olympics this year are in Russia, and the Russian four-man teams look to take top honors on home ice. While their other FIBT teammates have had issues being competitive on home ice, the Russian four-man teams all had strong showings at the Olympic test event in Sochi. Alexander Zubkov looks to lead the way again for the Olympic hosts.
Also showing strong at the final race of the year was the Latvian team headed up by Oskars Melbardis. The Latvians had generally had strong pushes, only to fall flat during the run. The final race of the season though, in Sochi, Melbardis and company broke through to take their first gold of the season.
The FIBT World Cup season begins November 29 in Calgary.
