For Immediate Release:

Friday, December 9, 2005

Contact: Tom LaDue

Public and Media Relations Director

United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation

(518) 523-1842 ext. 106

Igls, Austria – Over thirty-one women’s skeleton athletes took to the 1976 Olympic track as the 2005-2006 FIBT AIT Women’s Skeleton World Cup tour made its third of seven stops for the season this time in Igls, Austria. The race saw Carla Paven from Canada claim her first ever World Cup victory while American Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, CO) was the top U.S. finisher in seventh. The story of the race may have been the return of 2005 World Cup Champion Noelle Pikus-Pace (Orem, UT) to the track after breaking her leg on October 19, 2005.

Canadian Carla Paven took the gold after two consistent runs. Paven had a 55.92 on her first run and had a 56.11 on run two for a combined time of 1:52.03. Taking the silver, .04 seconds behind Paven, was her teammate Melissa Richards-Hollingsworth with runs of 56.06 and 56.01 for a combined time of 1:52.07. The bronze went to 2005 World Champion Maya Pedersen of Switzerland. Pedersen finished with a combined time of 1:52.11 after runs of 55.89 (fastest of the competition) and 56.22.

Rounding out the top six were: Michelle Steele from Australia, in fourth with a time of 1:52.14 (55.93, 56.21); Anja Huber from Germany, in fifth with a time of 1:52.24 (56.04, 56.20) and Lindsay Alcock from Canada, in sixth with a time of 1:52.25 (56.11, 56.14).

The top American finisher was three-time Verizon National Champion, Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, CO) in seventh. Uhlaender had a start of 5.47 on run one along with a down time of 56.14. Run two would see a push of 5.48 with a time of 56.25 for a combined time of 1:52.39.

“It was a bit disappointing for me. I was training really well all week and came in with high expectations. I just had a bad day and had a little rookie-itis. I’m going to take it in stride and take it as a lesson learned,” replied Uhlaender. “I am still ranked third overall so I still feel that I have a good shot to pull it together.”

Also competing for the United States was: Courtney Yamada (Boise, Idaho) in thirteenth, 1:53.03 (56.45, 56.58); 2005 World Cup Champion Noelle Pikus-Pace (Orem, UT) in twentieth, 1:54.31 (56.83, 57.48) and Katie Koczynski (Nyack, NY) in twenty-second, 57.13 (57.13). Koczynski did not take a second run after not finishing in the top twenty after run one. Under the FIBT rules only the top twenty athletes after run one compete in run two.

The story of the day had to be the return of 2005 World Cup Champion Noelle Pikus-Pace to the track. It was just over seven weeks ago that she was hit by a four-man bobsled at the Calgary Olympic Park in Calgary, Canada while in the out run of the track.

Noelle suffered a compound fracture of her lower right leg, as both her tibia and fibula were broken. A successful surgery was completed on her right leg and a titanium rod was inserted to support the bones during the healing process. Preliminary prognosis was that she would be unable to put pressure on the leg for four weeks. Pikus-Pace was hoping to come back for the second half of the World Cup season and take a shot at Torino but has made a miraculous recovery and made her season debut today.

“It feels great to be back. It’s been really hard and a rough journey. This is only the second week I’ve been on the sled this season. I am really happy with the way things are progressing. I was a second and a half to two seconds off the pace during training

and it has been very frustrating as I have been trying to protect my leg going and coming out of curves,” replied Pikus-Pace. “Being able to come back and get a second run is something to build on and I am happy with that. I know it’s twentieth place and last year I got a gold medal here, so I’ll take it. I had high expectations coming back to this track and did not know how hard it was going to be coming back from such a major injury. It has been a challenging road to get to this point not only physically but mentally.”

When asked about making it back ahead of schedule Pikus-Pace replied, “Everyday when I was at physical therapy I pushed it a little bit harder with my physical therapist by my side. I could not have gotten to where I am now without my family along with the positive environment, which really sped things up. As each day went by I said to myself that tomorrow can be a little bit better and this can and it will happen (the comeback). At first expectations were for me to come back at Konigssee, Germany in mid January in the doctor’s eyes. As each week went by things started to progress faster. As things moved along I thought about looking into December and I did not want to go straight to Sigulda. This was my goal since I started rehab to get to Igls. This is just really good to be here. I have achieved this goal and one little part of the journey so I’m just going to keep moving forward.”

When asked about the race, Skeleton Head Coach Tim Nardiello replied, “I think seventh isn’t bad for Katie (Uhalender). We were not that far away from a podium spot. You have to remember she is young. She was a rookie last season and is really starting to feel the pressure on the team. She just needs to relax more. Courtney (Yamada) did very well for her first time in a World Cup race on this very difficult track. We still are tied for second in team points and we are looking ahead to some great results in Sigulda.”

When asked about Noelle coming back so quickly from her injury, Nardiello replied, “She did great in her first race back. She hung in there and is not in any pain. She just needs to get more runs to build the confidence back to where she was. It was seven weeks ago yesterday that she was hit by a bobsled. She is a phenomenal young athlete and helps bring good karma and spirit to our team. She is getting hungry and is starting to get the feeling back of being in race mode.”

The women’s overall top ten World Cup standings: Melissa Hollingsworth-Richards, Canada – 280 points; Maya Pedersen, Switzerland – 270 points; Katie Uhlaender, United States – 215; Lindsay Alcock, Canada – 175 points; Carla Paven, Canada – 170 points; Diana Sartor, Germany – 160 points; Shelley Rudman, Great Britain – 159 points; Kerstin Juergens, Germany – 139 points; Michelle Steele, Australia – 130 points and Desiree Bjerke, Norway – 118 points.

The FIBT AIT Skeleton World Cup Tour now travels to Sigulda, Latvia for racing on December 14th (women) and December 15th (men).

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