American John Napier wins 2-man gold in Lake Placid, his 1st medal in World Cup event

American Napier wins bobsled gold at Lake Placid

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — John Napier practically grew up on the bobsled track at Mount Van Hoevenberg. For one day, he owned it.

While his mom, Betsy, rang her giant golden cowbell, the 22-year-old Napier slid the race of his dreams on Saturday, beating U.S. teammate Steven Holcomb to win a World Cup two-man race on his home track at Lake Placid.

Napier and brakeman Charles Berkeley defeated Holcomb and brakeman Justin Olsen by 0.26 seconds with a combined two-run time of 1 minute, 53.62 seconds.

Ivo Ruegg and Roman Handschin of Switzerland were third. Pierre Lueders and brakeman David Bissett of Canada finished fourth.

In the women’s race later, the Germans dominated as Cathleen Martini and Sandra Kiriasis finished 1-2 for the second straight World Cup event and teammate Claudia Schramm barely missed the podium, finishing fourth to Canada’s Kaillie Humphries by 0.01.

It was a somewhat disappointing day for the U.S. team. Shauna Rohbock and Elana Meyers were the top U.S. finishers in fifth, though they were just 0.07 behind the Canadians. Erin Pac and Michelle Rzepka finished seventh, and Bree Schaaf and Emily Azevedo tied the Swiss sled of Sabina Hafner and Marina Gilardoni for ninth.

“Yeah, it’s annoying,” Rohbock said of the Germans’ performance. “But they can be 1-2 now. We’ll take 1-2 at the end.”

It was the first podium finish for Napier, who is competing for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. That it came on the same mountain where his late father Bill, former president of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, once competed made it more special.

“To have a win at my home track is just awesome,” said Napier, who first saw the track (it was rebuilt in 2000) when his mom tucked him under her coat and walked it when he was 2 weeks old. “I was actually up in the old 1980 start house, and I was thinking of how ironic it was that 30 years ago (my father) was in there warming up. There’s kind of a little bit of irony there. I hope I served my father’s legacy well.”

Bill Napier died in June 2005 of kidney cancer, but not before skipping a cancer treatment to watch his son compete here in his first World Cup event.

Betsy Napier, a former bobsledder, tried to mask her emotions.

“I was nervous, but I don’t control the track, the weather, the way the guys feel, so I have to go with it,” she said. “I’m just glad he did it here on his home track. I met my husband here at the track.”

Napier built a slim 0.15-second lead over the Swiss team on the first trip down the 20-curve track, with Holcomb another 0.16 behind. Napier said he won because he was in the mix at the start, posting the eighth- and fifth-fastest times at the top.

“I’ve never been this close at the start,” he said. “And I think it proves what I can do at the bottom when I have great push starts.”

It was rarefied air for Napier, whose best career World Cup finish was a fifth in four-man last season at Park City. He asked teammate Holcomb, who won the four-man world championship here in February, for advice.

“I leaned on great guys like Holcomb, who’s been there before,” said Napier, who lives in a house he built on Bobrun Road just inside the entrance to the Olympic complex. “I asked him, ‘What the heck do you do? I’ve never been in this position.’ He told me to just go hang out, chill out, act like it’s a practice run.”

“I tried to keep him calm, not trying to put too much pressure on him,” Holcomb said. “He did a great job. It was a good showing.”

The third U.S. sled driven by Mike Kohn with brakeman Nick Cunningham finished ninth. Kohn filled in for injured driver Todd Hays, who hurt his left hamstring last week at Park City, Utah.

When Napier crossed the finish line a winner after posting the second-best time on the second run, he was greeted by his teammates and scores of flag-waving American fans. Track manager Tony Carlino went to the side of the finish house and began sobbing, not because he had just lost a long-standing bet with Napier to quit his smoking habit.”We called him a track rat. He’s been running around here since he was born. He started driving peewee bobsleds when he was 8,” said Carlino, a close friend of Bill Napier. “It’s a testament to what hard work and dedication to a sport can do.

“It’s a sign for America that any dream can be achieved, and here it is, right in front of us. A tall, skinny kid who worked hard, worked hard, worked hard and it’s paid off.”