A long awaited gold medal finally came into reality by the hand Steve Holocomb for USA..Steven Holcomb carried his USA-1 sled to a gold medal Saturday in men's Olympic four-man bobsled.Steve may have done even more than that.
The U.S. team combined of Holcomb, Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curtis Tomasevicz captured the first U.S. Olympic gold medal in men's bobsled in 62 years, arousing a new hope that the sport might catch on among Americans.
51.52 seconds was the timing by the USA-1 sled inthe final run at Whistler Sliding Center , only the third-fastest time in the final heat. But the last icy journey down the risky track for the sled t called "Night Train" was enough quick to end a more than six-decades drought.
"No more 62 years," said Holcomb after winning the gold.. "Now it's going to be four years."
Mike Kohn, pilot of the USA-3 sled that finished 13th,said,"It's hopefully going to get some recognition for the sport," . Kohn commented before Holcomb's Night Train even hit the track for its final run,shows the confident level of the Americans
The former Daytona 500 winner who helped build the U.S. sleds, Geoff Bodine dreamt a gold medal. Especially since Holcomb and his teammates had looked so impressive while building a nearly half-second lead over the Canada-1 sled after the first three heats.
"I've had a big lead on the whole field and then the caution flag comes out and the field bunches up," said Bodine. "That's when confidence comes in."
Holcomb and his crew proved it on the track, posting the fastest times over each of the first three heats to build their lead, and then coming through with a good enough run to seal the win.
Their final time was 3 minutes, 24.46 seconds.
It was the 36th overall medal for the U.S. in Vancouver, matching the all-time Winter Olympics record set by Germany in 2002. The U.S. is guaranteed another medal after the men's ice hockey final on Sunday.
Holcomb underwent eye surgery last year to fix a degenerative disease that left him almost blind, said he envisioned the gold in 1994. He has piloted the two- and four-man bobsleds in the last two Olympics and now finally reach his goal.
"We've been working so hard the last four years and it's finally paid off," he said.
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