USA Bobsled & Skeleton Team wraps up successful international competition season

USA Bobsled Skeleton wraps up another successful international competition season. Photo: Viesturs Lacis, courtesy of USABS

PARK CITY, Utah — The competition season has officially come to a close for the USA Bobsled Skeleton (USABS) Team. Over the course of the season they traveled to eight different countries, competed on nine unique and individually challenging tracks and they won dozens of medals.

“We had a number of athletes exceed expectations at each level of competition setting us up for a very promising future,” Curt Tomesevicz, Director of Sport Performance for USABS, said.

Of course, the team is preparing for peak performance at the 2026 Olympics, which will be held in Milan-Cortina. Tomesevicz added that each season is an important stepping stone toward the next Games. “It is crucial that we take advantage of every opportunity to get better during the season as well as in the off-season,” he said.

At the World Cup level, USABS athletes tallied 34 top-six finishes and 14 top-three finishes. The team had five top-six World Championship finishes, with Elana Meyers Taylor earning a silver medal in monobob.

It was a breakout season for Kaysha Love, of Salt Lake City. Love ended the season ranked fourth women’s monobob. In 2-Woman, Meyers-Taylor ranked fifth, and in Bobsled Combined Women, she ranked fourth. She also ended the season ranked fifth in monobob. 

In 2-Man Bobsled, Frank Del Duca ranked sixth overall for the season in the men’s IBSF rankings. In 2-Woman Bobsled, Meyers Taylor ranked sixth overall and in Women’s Skeleton, Mystique Ro ranked fourth overall. In Bobsled Combined Women, Meyers Talyor ranked third and Love ranked fifth, and in 2-Woman, Meyers Taylor ended the season ranked fifth.

“The season brought many challenges but also a lot of growth and great results. With a handful of medals and athletes finding personal bests, I feel we are on track,” Matt Antoine, Head Skeleton Coach for USABS, said.

In the Para Sport division, the team had 15 top-six finishes and 8 top-three finishes. In the Para Sport World Championships, the team had one top-three finish and one top-six finish. In terms of overall Para Sport rankings, Bob Balk ended his season ranked third in the world and Will Castillo ended ranked sixth in the world.

In the North American Cup (NAC) division, the team impressively saw 17 total top-six rankings. In Men’s Skeleton, Bradley Nicol of the Provo area ended the season ranked fifth. In Women’s Skeleton, Katie Uhlaender and Logan Wudi ended up ranked first and second. In Bobsled Combined Men, Kris Horn took first and Geoff Gadbois took fourth. In 2-Man, Horn placed first and Gadbois took fifth. In 4-Man, Horn again took first and Gadbois took second. In Bobsled Combined Women, Riley Tejcek placed third, Sylvia Hoffman placed fourth and Lauren Brzozowski placed sixth. In 2-Woman, Hoffman placed second, Brzozowski placed third and Tejcek placed fifth. In Women’s Monobob, Tejcek took fourth and Brzozowski took sixth. In the Europe Cup (EC) division, USABS had five top-six finishes and one top-three finish.

“These results come from many years of hard work in the shadows away from the cameras of World Cup. As we celebrate our visible results, it is critical we recognize the entire journey from day one to day “gold medal” and all of the ups and downs in between,” Caleb Smith, USA Skeleton Coach said.

The 2023/2024 sliding season also included the exciting addition of the first-ever Pan American Championships, the newest counterpart to the annual European Championships. In this new series of competitions, Team USA had 18 top-six finishes and 14 top-three finishes.

This season. the Jr. Pan American Championships, Jr. Pan American Championships U20, and Jr. Pan American Championships U23 were also introduced in Lake Placid. Team USA had nine top-six finishes and nine top-three finishes total in these new categories. Additionally, in the Youth Series division, the team saw six top-six finishes and two top-three finishes. In regards to individual youth athlete rankings, John Lansing ended his season ranked sixth in the world in Boy’s Monobob while Emily Bradley placed fourth overall in Girl’s Monobob for the season.