While I don’t like to brag about our clientele all that often, I wanted to give a shout-out to Alex Sprague, a US Olympic bobsled hopeful.  I’ve been working with Alex for a little over a year now, and he’s doing quite well for himself on the international circuit.

Here’s a brief article on Alex and the rest of his team.  While they’re doing well at 4-man, Alex and Todd are actually even better at 2-man!

Hays Within Reach of Medals in Men’s Four-man Bobsled World Cup

Amanda Bird – USA Bobsled & Skeleton Federation January 18, 2009

Contact: Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Manager

(518) 523-1842, ext 106, [email protected]

For Immediate Release

January 18, 2009

Hays Within Reach of Medals in Men’s Four-man Bobsled World Cup

ST. MORITZ, Switzerland–Todd Hays (Del Rio, Texas) finished fifth in today’s four-man bobsled World Cup competition in St. Moritz, Switzerland, just four-hundredths of a second from the medals.

“It’s pretty amazing to have a race this tight,” said Hays. “It feels great to know that we’re getting better and closer to the medals each week.”

Hays teamed with TJ Burns (Blue Bell, Pa.), Alex Sprague (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Bill Schuffenhauer (Ogden, Utah) to finish with a two-run total of two minutes, 10.85 seconds, within striking distance of gold.

“Todd was second off today, and if he had started ninth or tenth, he would have been on the podium,” said U.S. team head coach, Sepp Plozza. “Todd had two very good runs, and he couldn’t have done any better. He just had the misfortunate of an early start draw.”

The natural ice of St. Moritz speeds up as temperatures rise, making a later start beneficial. Hays and his crew powered off the start with push times of 5.45 and 5.42 seconds for runs of 1:05.70 and 1:05.15, respectively.

“It absolutely feels good to cap the European portion of the season with today’s result,” said Hays. “I’m looking forward to competing on a couple home tracks now, and hopefully I can get a good feel for the course in Vancouver before finishing with two big days in Lake Placid for World Championships.”

Russia’s Alexsandr Zubkov nabbed his fifth medal of the season after claiming gold today with a combined time of 2:10.48. Zubkov and his crew of Roman Oreshnikov, Dmitry Trunenkov and Dmitry Stepushkin pushed identical start times of 3.34 seconds for runs of 1:05.20 and 1:05.28.

Thomas Florschütz claimed the silver medal for Germany with a total time of 2:10.79 in one of the season’s most competitive races yet. Florschütz and his crew of Marc Kühne, Stefan Barucha and Alexander Metzger slid runs of 1:05.61 and 1:05.18 for a total time of 2:10.79.

Karl Angerer from Germany has been dominating on the European Cup circuit this season, and slid a bronze medal performance today with his team of Andreas Udvari, Thomas Poege and Gregor Bermbach. Angerer’s team crossed the finish with a combined time of 2:10.81 after sliding runs of 1:05.53 and 1:05.28.

Beat Hefti was third after the first heat with a run of 1:05.58, but fell out of medal contention on his home track with a second run time of 1:05.37, moving him into sixth. Hefti’s team continues to dominate at the start, bursting off the block with push times of 5.35 and 5.30 seconds.

The teams are packing crates to send sleds immediately overseas for an official training week in Vancouver, Canada before the next World Cup race from Feb. 5-7 on the 2010 Olympic track.

Watch Hays navigate one of the most beautiful stops on tour by visiting www.UniversalSports.com. Complete results can be found by visiting the web site for the Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing at www.fibt.com. For additional information about the U.S. team, please contact Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Manager, at (518) 523-1842, ext. 106, or [email protected].

Results:

1. Zubkov, Oreshinkov, Trunenkov and Stepushkin (RUS) 2:10.48 (1:05.20, 1:05.28)

2. Florschütz, Kühne, Barucha and Metzger (GER) 2:10.79 (1:05.61, 1:05.18)

3. Angerer, Udvari, Poege and Bermbach (GER) 2:10.81 (1:05.53, 1:05.28)

5. Hays, Burns, Sprague and Schuffenhauer (USA) 2:10.85 (1:05.70, 1:05.15)

Alex is off for another 5 week stint, so we’re all wishing him good luck in both his training and performances!

Stay strong

MR