{"id":239,"date":"2011-08-31T10:13:52","date_gmt":"2011-08-31T14:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.slidingonice.com\/?p=239"},"modified":"2011-08-31T10:20:03","modified_gmt":"2011-08-31T14:20:03","slug":"lake-placid-to-host-u-s-national-push-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slidingonice.com\/?p=239","title":{"rendered":"Lake Placid to Host U.S. National Push Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lake Placid hosts U.S. National Push Championships next week
\n<\/strong>(USBSF Press Release)<\/p>\n

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. <\/strong>(August 31, 2011)–<\/strong>Tropical Storm Irene swept along the east coast last weekend, leaving many residents in the Adirondack Park under water and without power. \u00a0Despite road closures and flooding, Lake Placid U.S. Olympic Training Center resident and 2010 Olympic bronze medalist Elana Meyers said, \u201cThe show must go on.\u201d\u00a0 Over 60 bobsled and skeleton athletes from around the nation will travel to northern New York this weekend for the 2011 U.S. National Push Championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope to be a positive example for the community,\u201d Meyers said.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of damage to surrounding areas, and we want to do what we can to help the communities that support us.\u00a0 We\u2019ll keep pushing, literally and figuratively, to recover.\u201d<\/p>\n

Men\u2019s and women\u2019s bobsled athletes will compete in a single push event on Sept. 7th, which will determine combinations for a team push on Sept. 10th. Skeleton athletes will battle for their right to the title on Sept. 17th. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation (USBSF) staff has reached out to town officials in hopes of engaging the team in local recovery efforts following the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Adirondack region is a community that has welcomed us year after year, and we want to do what we can to give back in this time of need,\u201d said Darrin Steele, USBSF CEO.\u00a0 \u201cLake Placid is headquarters for the sliding sports in the U.S. and host for the 2012 World Championships, so this storm hit close to home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Team members are scheduled to arrive on Sunday and kick off the week with a combine test on Monday.\u00a0 Athletes must score 600 points or above in a series of speed and power drills that make up the combine test in order to qualify to compete. The men\u2019s and women\u2019s bobsled push championships results will be taken into account by the team selection committee as they name the national team following trials this October.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPush championships is the opportunity for every returning athlete to show all the hard work they’ve been putting in over the summer, and it’s an opportunity for all the new athletes to compare themselves to the national team and Olympians,\u201d Meyers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meyers hopes to win her fourth consecutive women\u2019s bobsled push championship title next week.\u00a0 Already an Olympic medalist as a push athlete, Meyers is now aiming for gold as a pilot in 2014.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning the title of national push champion only makes you want it more the next season so you can show that you’ve continued to progress as an athlete,\u201d Meyers said.\u00a0\u201cAt the same time though, you are always looking to be faster than you were the last season- win, lose, or draw.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

Three-time bobsled Olympian Todd Hays will get his first glimpse of the team as the newly hired women\u2019s bobsled coach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will be my first push championships as a coach for the U.S. program and I am excited to see the women in competition mode,\u201d Hays said. \u00a0\u201cThis will help me better understand where each athlete is physically and set a starting point for our future goals. \u00a0From what I’ve seen so far it looks like the women have had a great summer of training and I am hoping to see it pay off.\u201d<\/p>\n

On ice results are the combined outcome of push athlete and driver effort, which is why this event is an important competition for push athletes to show their individual talents.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs bobsled athletes, push championships is our first of few opportunities to test our abilities against the nation\u2019s best,\u201d said Steve Langton. \u201cI’m very excited and optimistic as the season draws closer. Our program is strong and considering the number of quality athletes we have competing this season, I have very high hopes for this World Cup season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only does Langton hold several national titles, but he\u2019s also the reigning world push champion.\u00a0 The international federation hosted its first ever world push competition last season in Cesana, Italy, and Langton brought the title home by 0.03 seconds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery opportunity to compete is an opportunity to win,\u201d Langton said. \u201cHaving claimed a few titles over the past few years has motivated me to continue to improve and better myself as a push athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drivers will analyze push championship results before selecting their team of athletes for national team trials in Lake Placid this October. Athletes will put forth their best to impress not only the drivers, but to gain the attention of the coaching staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is definitely an important aspect of building teams,\u201d said Brian Shimer, U.S. men\u2019s bobsled head coach.\u00a0 \u201cWe have a great mix of rookie and veteran athletes competing.\u00a0 It keeps veterans looking over their shoulder, and it\u2019s good to have new talent continually pushing our team to get even better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The results of skeleton push championships do not have an impact on team selection, but head coach Tuffy Latour emphasizes the importance of getting athletes back into competition mode leading up to the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cPush championships is shaping up to be another great event for USA skeleton,\u201d Latour said. \u00a0\u201cThis competition will include some very strong veteran sliders, new recruits from last year and our newest additions from combine events this summer. \u00a0The competition should be outstanding.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The U.S. skeleton program has grown from 14 athletes at the conclusion of the 2010 national team trials to 60 since Latour took the reigns last summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe transformation of the program is due to an increased recruiting partnership with the Olympic Regional Development Authority,\u201d Latour said. \u201cThe U.S. Olympic Committee has stepped up support for our team and this added benefit has helped the program to grow very rapidly.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

The USBSF would like to thank the Olympic Regional Development Authority and Rick Preston for helping to repair the push track earlier this summer to meet competition standards.<\/p>\n

Media and fans are encouraged to attend U.S. National Push Championships.\u00a0 The push track is located at the rear of the Horse Show Grounds in Lake Placid, and competition start times will be posted under the \u201cEvents\u201d tab at www.usbsf.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lake Placid is gearing up to host the 2012 World Championships this February.\u00a0 Stay updated on the team\u2019s progress leading up to the biggest event of the season by following the team on the USBSF Twitter page, or on the USA Bobsled & Skeleton Facebook page.\u00a0 You can also watch athlete interviews and check out the action on the USABobsledSkeleton YouTube channel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lake Placid hosts U.S. National Push Championships next week (USBSF Press Release) LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (August 31, 2011)–Tropical Storm Irene swept along the east coast last weekend, leaving many residents in the Adirondack Park under […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4,7,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-bobsled-news","category-news","category-skeleton-news","category-sliding-venues"],"yoast_head":"\nLake Placid to Host U.S. National Push Championships :: Sliding On Ice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slidingonice.com\/?p=239\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ken\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.slidingonice.com\\\/?p=239#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.slidingonice.com\\\/?p=239\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ken\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.slidingonice.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/db2f58b66489f73e3146486ecc55e6fd\"},\"headline\":\"Lake Placid to Host U.S. National Push Championships\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-08-31T14:13:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-08-31T14:20:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.slidingonice.com\\\/?p=239\"},\"wordCount\":1112,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.slidingonice.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Bobsled News\",\"News\",\"Skeleton News\",\"Venues\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.slidingonice.com\\\/?p=239\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.slidingonice.com\\\/?p=239\",\"name\":\"Lake Placid to Host U.S. National Push Championships :: Sliding On Ice\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.slidingonice.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-08-31T14:13:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-08-31T14:20:03+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.slidingonice.com\\\/?p=239#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.slidingonice.com\\\/?p=239\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.slidingonice.com\\\/?p=239#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.slidingonice.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lake Placid to Host U.S. National Push Championships\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.slidingonice.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.slidingonice.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sliding on Ice\",\"description\":\"Bobsled - 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