The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation world championships are underway in Whistler, Canada. One local athlete is making history there.
Park City resident Dave Nicholls is known as a pioneer in bobsleigh for Paralympic athletes. This weekend he’ll be representing Israel as the first parathlete to compete in the able-bodied bobsleigh world championships.
“We’re at 50% deficit in terms of pushing power because I don’t run," Nicholls said. "I get in the sled before my brakeman starts to push. It’s not likely that we’ll medal but our times have been getting progressively better each day and that’s okay with me. Again my goal is just to get us down without having any crashes because there’s a famous curve here called 50/50. 50% of the sleds go over and roll on that curve and that was me last week. So far this week I’ve been nailing it and I’ve been good with that.”
Each team will get two runs today and one tomorrow from there the top 20 will be part of the final run. Nicholls says making the top 20 is a goal the team is shooting for.
“It’s pretty incredible," Nicholls said. "It’s pretty huge just to even be here. These are the top, the best of the best sliders in the world. It’s the toughest and most fast course in the world.”
The races begin tonight at 6:00 pm MST. The race will be broadcast on NBC Sports and the Olympic Channel. You can find links to online streams of the competition here.
