“It was a bit of a surprise—obviously a good surprise—with Holcomb winning his first World Cup medal ever,” U.S. men’s bobsled head coach Brian Shimer said. “Usually two-man hasn’t been his strongest discipline, but it’s showing that he’s really maturing into a great pilot.”

Driving a Bo-Dyn sled he tested in October, Holcomb and brakeman Brock Kreitzburg (Akron, Ohio) sat in third after their first run of 55.72, just .01 seconds behind Pierre Lueders of Canada, the 2006 Olympic two-man silver medalist. Both 2006 Olympians, Holcomb and Kreitzburg had a second run of 55.66—the day’s third-fastest—to take second place. Their total time of 1:51.38 was 0.56 seconds behind Germany’s Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske, both double gold medalists at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, who won the race in a total time of 1:50.82 (55.18, 55.64). The American pair had two of the day’s quickest starts.

Competing in his first World Cup race as a driver for the United States, Stephan Bosch (Park City, Utah) placed 15th after runs of 56.44 and 56.30 for a total of 1:52.74. Tim O’Mara (Salt Lake City, Utah) served as Bosch’s brakeman and raced in his first-career World Cup.

The pair of Mike Kohn (Chantilly, Va.) and Alex Sprague (Indianapolis, Ind.) was 15th after its initial run of 56.31. Due to a groin injury suffered by Sprague during the first run, Theron Johnson (Wheaton, Md.) joined Kohn as his brakeman on the second run, sliding to a time of 56.84. Kohn’s total time of 1:53.15 earned him the 18th spot.

“We’ve learned some things here and at the same time, we had a great result,” Shimer stated. “Stephan had some of the highest speeds on the track driving our Bo-Dyn test sled.”

In a time of 1:51.57 (55.71, 55.86), Lueders and brakeman Lascelles Brown tied for third with Switzerland’s Ivo Rueegg and Cedric Grand, who had a total of 1:51.57 (55.81, 55.76). Completing the podium finish in fifth and sixth place, respectively, were the German teams of Matthias Hoepfner and Andreas Porth in 1:51.71 (55.73, 55.98) and Karl Angerer and Mirko Paetzold in 1:51.89 (55.93, 55.96).

“I can’t say enough about the team effort and it’s just great to see,” Shimer said. “Everybody’s working together and it’s already showing with our results. I’m really happy for Steve and everybody knows they played a part in this.”

On Saturday, Holcomb added a fifth-place podium finish in the four-man.

“I’m pretty happy with the way the weekend went,” Holcomb said. “All week we’ve been doing pretty well training and things kind of came together in the two-man. It’s a great way to start the year and the quadrennium.”

Holcomb drove to a combined time of 1:48.68 with his four-man team of Jesse Beckom III (Chicago, Ill./Winston-Salem, N.C.), TJ Burns (Blue Bell, Pa.) and Brock Kreitzburg (Akron, Ohio). With a second slide of 54.55, Holcomb kept the fifth-place position he and his squad held after their first run of 54.13.

“In the four-man, I had some issues driving and things just weren’t going as well as I was hoping,” Holcomb stated. “I made a few mistakes that cost us some time and we ended up a little back in fifth place. It’s not a bad place to be, but there’s still room for improvement.”

With teammates Jamie Moriarty (Winnetka, Ill.), Alex Sprague (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Theron Johnson (Wheaton, Md.), driver Mike Kohn (Chantilly, Va.) finished ninth with a total time of 1:49.10. Kohn and crew had a second run of 54.69 that moved them up a spot from their 10th-place standing after their initial run of 54.41.

Stephan Bosch (Park City, Utah) and teammates Ben Fogel (Nevada City, Calif.), Tim O’Mara (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Jeremy White (Durango, Colo.) were 13th after their first run of 54.54. With a second pass of 54.77, they earned a combined time of 1:49.31 to finish in 14th place.

“The Bo-Dyn sleds are running well and these new guys are getting invaluable experience,” said Brian Shimer, a five-time Olympian and 2002 Olympic bronze medalist. “Hopefully we go to Park City and improve.

“It was a great team effort here and everybody’s having fun. That’s what it’s all about.”