The U.S. team, led by Latter-day Saint Caleb Farnell, is in the top 10 after the first two heats of the four-person bobsled race at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.
The American sled, with pilot Chris Horn, placed ninth after two runs at the Cortina Sliding Center in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Farnell is a pusher along with Hunter Powell and Kirsten Visseling.
In the four-man bobsled, men push, dive, and head into the bobsled while a pilot steers it through the winding paths of the icy road. The fastest sleds reach speeds of 85 miles per hour (137 kilometers per hour). Rankings are determined in 1/100th of a second.
According to the results from Olympic.com, the sledding time in the first heat was 54.60 seconds, tied for eighth place with the South Korean team led by pilot Jin-soo Kim. The sled, piloted by German Johannes Lochner, set a record of 53.91 seconds, 0.69 seconds behind first place.
In the second heat, Team USA’s sled time was 55.01 seconds, placing them 11th, 0.32 seconds behind the first-place sled time. Another German team, piloted by Adam Amour, had a time of 54.69 seconds. The second heat resulted in several track delays due to mid-track crashes involving Austrian, French and Trinidad and Tobago sleds.
Team USA’s total heat time was 1:49.61, just one second behind the lead sled’s time of 1:48.61, piloted by Germany’s Lochner. The American team is 0.22 seconds from fifth place and 0.41 seconds from the bronze medal spot.
Team USA has two sleds for the four-person bobsled competition. The sled piloted by Frankie Del Duca was 12th at the end of the second heat with a total time of 1:51.02 seconds.
About Caleb Farnell
Farnell, 24, is a graduate of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, where he was a sprinter on the track and field team and set school records. After Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Farnell thought his competitive career was over, but a friend encouraged him to try the bobsled combine.
After a tryout, he was invited to participate in the U.S. Push Championships to be held in Lake Placid, New York in September 2025. He was one of 12 push players selected for the World Cup team.
The 2026 Milan-Cortina Games will be his first Olympics.
when to watch
Bobsleigh, or competitive bobsledding, consists of four races measured to the nearest hundredth of a second. The team with the fastest total time is the winner.
The first two heats were on Saturday February 21st. The last two heats will start on Sunday, February 22nd at 10am Italian time (2am Mountain time). The fourth and final race begins at 12:15pm (4:15am Mountain). The top 20 of the 27 sleds will compete in the final heat.
