LAKE PLACID - Steve Holcomb began his World Championship celebration by taking family members along for a couple of victory rides on Mount Van Hoevenberg's run after the race.
Steve Mesler started his reveling in the parking lot at the base of the track, joining family, friends and teammates for a sun-soaked tailgate party.
On Sunday, Holcomb ended a 50-year drought for the United States when he drove to the four-man title on the final day of the 2009 FIBT World Championships in Lake Placid.
Holcomb, along with his crew of Mesler, Justin Olsen and Curtis Tomasevicz, put down the fastest times in all four heats over two days of racing to become the first American team to claim a four-man World Championship since Art Tyler took the title in 1959 at St. Moritz, Switzerland.
Not only did Holcomb and USA 1 end the long dry spell; they won the race by nearly a second ahead of defending champion Andre Lange of Germany, who finished as runner-up Sunday. Latvian driver Janis Minis and his crew rounded out the podium in third place.
"When the World Championships were awarded to Lake Placid a few years ago, we knew this would be our chance," Holcomb said. "We had high expectations. We've been fast all year, and we came into Lake Placid with a head of steam."
"This has been 50 years coming, and to do it here in Lake Placid by beating Lange, it doesn't get any better," Mesler said. "Lange is the king of bobsled. It's been a long march. After years of watching other people standing on the top of the podium, we finally got there."
Holcomb and his crew held almost a half-second lead after Saturday's opening two runs, and stretched their advantage in Sunday's final two heats to finish with a total time of 3 minutes, 36.61 seconds. Although the fastest start-ramp times on each run belonged to Lange and his crew, the intermediate splits quickly turned in favor of Holcomb and his push athletes.
"We didn't have the fastest push times, but by the time we were hitting the first split, you could tell how fast we were accelerating," Holcomb said. "That's where you could really see the success of our crew. By far, we have the best crew in the world. They came in here well rested and were chomping at the bit. All I had to do is drive and make as few mistakes as possible."
Mesler, a native of Buffalo, said that nearly 100 people traveled to Lake Placid from Western New York to cheer for the U.S. bobsledders. After the race, Mesler took time out to thank the supporters at a joyful tailgate party in the parking lot. After Mesler finished a short speech, one reveler raised a glass and made a toast, dubbing the USA 1 victory as the "New Miracle on Ice."
"This win was huge, and it couldn't have been scripted better," Mesler said. "Ending the World Championships on our home track by winning the four-man, you can't beat it - especially doing it the year before an Olympics. The four-man is bobsledding's premier event."
Twenty-four sleds began the four-man competition, and 20 completed all four runs. The U.S. had two other sleds in the contest, with Todd Hays and his crew placing ninth and John Napier driving to an 11th-place finish.
Hays is in his first season returning from retirement and joined T.J. Burns, Alex Sprague and Bill Schuffenhauer to finish with a 3:39.12 total. Napier and his crew of Jesse Beckom, Jamie Moriarty and Nick Cunningham turned in a four-heat 3:39.63 total.
Lange and his crew of Alexander Roediger, Kevin Kuske and Martin Putze entered Sunday's race in fourth place but climbed up in the standings to take the silver in 3:37.58, which was .97 behind Holcomb. The podium finish marked a new milestone for Lange, who now owns a record 17 medals from both World Championship and Olympic competitions.
After notching the victory aboard his four-man sled, known as the "Night Train," Holcomb will now begin to set his sights on the fast track at Whistler, British Columbia, the site of the sliding competitions in next year's Olympic Winter Games.
"We just took a silver medal there in the four-man World Cup," Holcomb said. "It's the fastest track in the world. When you are hitting speeds of 95 miles an hour there, you don't have time to think. Sliding there; it's a whole different world."
