U.S. leads after first two runs of four-man bobsled

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USA 1, with Steven Holcomb (Park City, Utah), Steve Mesler (Buffalo, N.Y.), Curt Tomasevicz (Shelby, Neb.) and Justin Olsen (San Antonio, Texas), is in first place at the halfway point of the four-man bobsled competition at the Vancouver Winter Olympics on Friday. They set track records in both of their runs to post a total time of 1:41.75, 0.40 ahead of Canada 1 and 0.44 up on Germany 1. The American sled lowered the track record to 50.89 in the first heat, then shaved another 0.03 off that mark their second trip down the course.

USA 3 with Mike Kohn (Fairfax, Va.), Nick Cunningham (Monterey, Calif.), Jamie Moriarty (Glencoe, Ill.) and Bill Schuffenhauer (Ogden, Utah) is 12th with a 1:43.11, 1.36 behind USA 1 and 0.92 off the third-place German sled. USA 2 with John Napier (Lake Placid, N.Y.), Chris Fogt (Alpine, Utah), Steve Langton (Melrose, Mass.) and Chuck Berkeley (Pittsfield, Mass.) rolled over during its second run but still was able to record a result. Their 1:44.71 has them in 17th place, 2.96 off the pace.

The final two runs are Saturday starting at 1 p.m. PST.

-- Houston Mitchell in Vancouver, Canada