Former U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program bobsledder Steven Holcomb and teammates Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curt Tomasevicz bite their gold medals Saturday night at Whistler Medals Plaza after winning the Olympic four-man bobsled crown earlier in the day at Whistler Sliding Centre. Photo by Tim Hipps Former U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program bobsledder Steven Holcomb ended Team USA’s 62- year gold medal drought in Olympic bobsleigh competition by driving Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curtis Tomasevicz to victory in the four-man event Saturday at Whistler Sliding Centre.

Holcomb, 29, of Park City, Utah, piloted “The Night Train” sled designed by former NASCAR driver Geoff Bodine down the fastest bobsled track in the world to a four-heat combined time of 3 minutes, 24.46 seconds. They lowered the track record in each of their first two runs Friday, leaving it at 50.86 seconds.

“It’s incredible,” Holcomb said. “We’ve been working so hard the last four years and it’s finally paid off. It’s kind of overwhelming. It’s been stressful but awesome, kind of all over the place.”

Five-time Olympic medalists Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske teamed with Alexander Roediger and Martin Putze aboard Germany I to win the silver medal with a time of 3:24.84. The Canada I quartet of Lyndon Rush, Chris Le Bihan, David Bissett and Lascelles Brown claimed the bronze in 3:24.85, marking the first time in 46 years Canadian bobsledders have medaled at the Olympics.

“We had four great starts and four great runs,” Holcomb said. “We started the weekend with the start record, which was huge. We wanted to make a statement and make sure they knew we were here to play.”