Back on ice: Some sliders finally able to begin season

Some U. S. luge, bobsled and skeleton athletes have rejoined the international World Cup sliding circuits, after they all stayed home for the first half of the season because of issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.

There are some exceptions: most athletes and coaches who are members of the U. S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program will not be with their teams for the remainder of the season, a list that includes USA Bobsled coach Mike Kohn. The Army hasn’t signed off on letting soldiers in that program, which includes more than a dozen Olympic sports, compete yet while citing concerns about the rising numbers of positive COVID- 19 cases both in the U. S. and around the world.

Friday marked the first day of actual international competition for American sliders, with USA Luge taking part in a Nations Cup race in Konigssee, Germany. That was a precursor to this weekend’s World Cup races there, and seven of the eight

U. S. sleds that competed qualified for races Saturday and Sunday.

USA Luge athletes and coaches all had to get three negative COVID- 19 tests in a three- day span before rejoining the circuit, and the International Luge Federation has been able to pull off four race weekends already this season without any major virus issues.

“I am so happy to be back in the World Cup,” said USA Luge’s Summer Britcher, who was third in the women’s Nation Cup race Friday and was the top- ranked American in last season’s World Cup standings.

The U. S. bobsled and skeleton teams flew to Germany this week and will re- join the World Cup circuit in Winterberg on Jan. 9 and 10. Kohn, along with a handful of other coaches and USA Bobsled and Skeleton athletes, remained home to comply with the WCAP mandates for safety.