2012 FIBT World Championships – Four-Man Bobsled – Heat 3

From Lake Placid, USA

Steven Holcomb and USA-1 have made their move.  Coming into Heat 3, the Americans had a .01 second lead over Max Arndt and GER-1.  After Arndt made his way down the track, the lead was up to .21 seconds.  True to his earlier two-man form, Holcomb used the biggest push of the competition and a clean run on home ice to add significantly to his advantage.

The good news for Max Arndt is that the German doesn’t have much to worry about behind him.  Teammate Manuel Machata is a full .4 behind, and short of an amazing run by Machata, Arndt won’t need to concern himself with the sliders behind him.

Alexsandr Zubkov is the World Cup champion, but he’ll have to slide hard to get into any kind of medal contention in these World Championships.  Dutch slider Edwin Van Calker sits fifth, but has some heavy hitters stacked up behind him, including Edgars Maskalans and Lyndon Rush.  Rush has been working hard to overcome a terrible first heat, having the third fastest run in runs 2 and 3.

American Nick Cunningham remains in 14th despite a personal best for these World Championships, and has the British sled piloted by John James Jackson just ahead of him.