Whistler track to host season-opening bobsleigh, skeleton World Cup races

Bobsleigh and skeleton World Cup races will return to North America this fall for the first time since before the pandemic, finally giving U.S. and Canadian athletes a chance to compete on home ice again.

The International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation has decided to start the 2022-23 season with three stops in the U.S. and Canada before the Christmas break. The tour will open on the 2010 Olympic track in Whistler, B.C., from Nov. 22-27, then moves to the 2002 Olympic track in Park City, Utah, from Nov. 29-Dec. 4, and from there goes to Lake Placid, New York.

The first event in Lake Placid is the world push championships at the newly remodeled indoor facility at the Mount Van Hoevenberg complex on Dec. 7 and 8, followed by a regular World Cup the following week.

The last World Cup sliding event in North America was in 2019. All three North American tracks lost events — including world championship races in Whistler and Lake Placid — because of the pandemic, with international officials relocating those events to Europe and Asia.

American and Canadian sliders have spoken out in recent months about a wish for more races on home ice, and having essentially the first half of the bobsleigh and skeleton World Cup seasons in North America should be a boost to both programs.

It also will save on travel — the U.S. and Canadian teams won't have to head to Europe for races this season until around Jan. 1. In many years, the North American teams have been in Europe before Christmas, returned home for holiday breaks, then had to eventually head back to Europe for the remainder of the season.

The remainder of the international bobsleigh and skeleton schedule for this coming season: Winterberg, Germany, on Jan. 3-8; two separate