Holcomb wins 3rd straight World Cup race in 4-man bobsled, beating Germans on their home track

Holcomb wins 3rd straight 4-man bobsled race

WINTERBERG, Germany — Steven Holcomb of the United States drove to his third straight World Cup four-man bobsled victory of the season Sunday, further cementing himself as the Olympic favorite.

Holcomb and his reigning world championship team of Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curt Tomasevicz finished two runs in a combined 1 minute, 50.70 seconds. That was 0.10 of a second ahead of the German sled piloted by defending Olympic champion Andre Lange.

“Anytime the Americans can win here it’s huge,” Holcomb said. “The Germans dominate on this track, so winning today feels almost as big as winning the world championships.”

It was the sixth time Holcomb’s four-man team has won in its last seven events, dating back to last season. Holcomb also extended his lead in the World Cup overall four-man standings.

“Winning is a combination of a great sled, great push times and great runs,” Holcomb said. “My lines are finally coming together, so I think we have all three things necessary to win and to keep winning.”

Karl Angerer of Germany drove to the bronze, 0.25 seconds behind Holcomb. Thomas Florscheutz of Germany finished fourth, 0.10 seconds ahead of John Napier of the United States, who continued his breakthrough season.

“I am ecstatic,” Napier said. “I finished behind Holcomb and three Germans, which really isn’t a bad position to be in.”