More from Whistler - MEDIA ALERT

I’m up early again… I guess my sleeping schedule has had a positive affect on my journal. There’s not much else for me to do at 5am! Haha So, the excitement of the last two weeks hasn’t worn off in the slightest. I haven’t felt like this about a race in a long time… probably my first world cup in Winterberg last year. It’s the feeling of no pressure yet the confidence of knowing I can slide well here. It’s a great place to be and in my opinion, a benefit of being pulled up from the ICC tour. Although it's the Olympic track, I get the sense from some athletes that it's just another stop on the tour... Being brought up, I have a little more fire and inspiration to help drive me. I just need to stay relaxed and not get ahead of myself these next two days… I’m getting a good feel for the track and have decided on the equipment I’m going to use. The funny thing is, I noticed that my runners were a tad bent the other day so I almost didn’t give them a shot… apparently “bent” is quick here! Shhhhhh, don’t give away my secret! Haha

I don’t have any new pictures at the moment but it looks like it’s going to be a sunny day… I’ll take a walk with my camera and post some later!

Here’s the MEDIA ALERT for the race… I wanted everyone to be able to watch it on TV (or online) if they were interested! YAY

UNIVERSAL SPORTS PRESENTS COVERAGE OF 

FIBT WORLD CUP

TV and Online Coverage of Bobsled and Skeleton starts Feb. 5

Los Angeles, Calif., February 3, 2009 – Universal Sports, along with the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (FIBT), presents TV and online coverage of the 2008-09 Bobsled Skeleton World Cup from Whistler, Canada, starting Feb. 5, 2009. This is the test event for the official 2010 Olympic bobsled and skeleton track this will be the first international event on a track that is expected to be one of the fastest and most difficult tracks in the world.

ONLINE COVERAGE OF WORLD CUP FROM WHISTLER: World Cup coverage from Whistler, Canada, will be offered on-demand starting on February 5, on UniversalSports.com. Winter sports fans can enjoy past coverage of other bobsled and skeleton competitions from the U.S., Canada, Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, on UniversalSports.com (Skeleton can be found under the sports of 'Bobsled & Luge').


TV COVERAGE OF WORLD CUP FROM WHISTLER: World Cup coverage from Whistler, Canada, will be broadcast on TV starting on February 10.

Universal Sports TV will offer 5 one-hour shows from Feb. 10 – 12, 2009.

Feb. 10 Women’s Skeleton 7 – 8 PM ET
Men’s Skeleton 8 – 9 PM ET
Women’s Bobsleigh 9 – 10 PM ET
Feb. 11 2-man Bobsleigh 6 – 7 PM ET
Feb. 12 4-man Bobsleigh 6 – 7 PM ET

COVERAGE ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS AND UNIVERSALSPORTS.COM: Universal Sports, available in 30 million homes, and UniversalSports.com, will offer coverage of the entire season of FIBT events: eight World Cups and the 2009 World Championships from Lake Placid, NY, on February 20 – March 1. There will be extensive coverage of all five FIBT sliding sports (2-man bobsled, 4-man bobsled, women’s bobsled, men’s skeleton and women’s skeleton) All five of these sports are Olympic disciplines.

TOP ATHLETES: Watch as the Americans battle the rest of the world for the top rankings throughout the World Cup season. In men’s bobsled, veteran drivers Steven Holcomb, Todd Hays, and John Napier will be racing together for this weekend’s World Cup. Napier claimed the two-man bobsled U.S. National Championship title last month.
Bree Schaaf, who was named women’s bobsled U.S. National Champion last month, will be racing alongside Shauna Rohbock and Erin Pac.

The men’s skeleton team will be made up of Zach Lund, Eric Bernotas, and Matt Antoine, and the women’s will consist of Katie Uhlaender, Noelle Pikus-Pace, and Keslie Tomlinson who have all had strong performances throughout the season.

UPCOMING WORLD CUPS:
(Past events available at UniversalSports.com)

Feb. 5 – 7: World Cup, Whistler, Canada
Feb. 12 – 14: World Cup, Park City, USA
Feb. 20 – Mar. 1: World Championship, Lake Placid, USA

Visit UniversalSports.com for up-to-date TV and online schedules and availability of the Universal Sports 24-hour TV network.

About Universal Sports
Universal Sports, a partnership between NBC Sports and InterMedia Partners, serves as the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic-related and lifestyle sports programming available on television and online. Universal Sports is a 24-hour television channel available in 30 million television households in markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington DC, San Diego, San Francisco, Hartford, New Haven, Las Vegas, Reno, Omaha and Albany. Major world championship and Olympic qualifying events found on Universal Sports ranges from track and field, skiing, swimming, gymnastics, marathons and cycling, to volleyball, rowing, triathlon, fencing, speed skating and martial arts. UniversalSports.com delivers an immersive experience via live and on-demand competition coverage, interaction with top athletes through blogs and in-depth access to Olympic sports news and information year round. For more information on the availability of the Universal Sports 24-hour television channel, please visit UniversalSports.com.

About the FIBT
The Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT) was founded on November 23, 1923 and is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the International Federation responsible for the sports of bobsleigh and skeleton. The FIBT headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. Bobsleigh has been a part of the Olympic Winter Games since the first Games in 1924. The FIBT conducts competitions in five disciplines: 2-man bobsleigh, 4-man bobsleigh, women’s bobsleigh, men’s skeleton and women’s skeleton. In addition to the Olympic Winter Games and World Championships, the FIBT conducts World Cup, Intercontinental Cup, European Cup and America's Cup competitions.

For more information, please contact:

T.K. Gore Don Krone
Universal Sports FIBT
240.396.1907 518.524.2647
tkgore@wcsn.com don.krone@fibt.com