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Codie Bascue was supposed to be the U.S. bobsled driving star of the future, someone expected to contend alongside the worlds best during the next Olympic cycle.He apparently doesnt want to wait that long.After winning all four races in the national team trials, Bascue was tabbed Friday as the top U.S. driver to start the upcoming World Cup bobsled season -- a breakthrough that even he wasnt expecting.Im kind of in shock and awe, Bascue said from Park City, Utah, where the team selections were announced.Former Olympic and world champion Steven Holcomb also made the team as a driver, as did Justin Olsen -- a push athlete in Holcombs sled that won Olympic gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games. Olsen continued his rapid rise in the driving ranks, edging veteran Nick Cunningham to earn the third spot going into the World Cup season.Holcomb is by far the most decorated driver on the team, and Cunningham and Olsen have shown they can more than hang with the top sleds in the world. But the star of the U.S. trials was a 22-year-old from Whitehall, New York, a small town near the Vermont border where high school football and wrestling command far more attention than driving sleds down icy mountainside chutes.He proved his worth these past few races, Cunningham said. And he didnt do it with a big push. He just flat-out outdrove all of us.Winning the trials ordinarily would mean Bascue would carry the USA-1 designation into the World Cup opener at Whistler, Canada, next month.A rulebook quirk will keep that from being the case.The start order for the seasons first race is based on the points from the previous season. The top 10 returning pilots -- Bascue wont be among those -- get put into a random draw for the first 10 starting spots down the hill. The other sleds start in order of their IBSF ranking, so technically, theres no way Bascue can start as USA-1 since Holcomb is assured of starting ahead of him based on last seasons points total.No matter -- Bascue proved during the trials that his time might indeed be now.I knew I progressed quite a bit this offseason, Bascue said. I guess Im kind of coming into my own as a driver. I think Im more focused now than I was in the past and I think that helps big-time.The three womens pilots to start the season are two-time Olympic medalist Elana Meyers Taylor (who had a bye for the trials), Jamie Greubel Poser and first-time national team driver Brittany Reinbolt.Meyers Taylor and Greubel Poser each won twice in the four-race trials series.Returning Olympians Lolo Jones and Aja Evans are among the women tabbed as push athletes for the national team, along with Lauren Gibbs, Kehri Jones and rookie Briauna Jones.The mens push-athlete pool includes returnees Carlo Valdes, Jimmy Reed, Adrian Adams, Sam Michener, Evan Weinstock, Sam McGuffie, Nathan Gilsleider, Austin Landis and Frank Del Duca. Theyre joined by first-time national-teamers Luis Moreira and Christopher Kinney. Tyson Chandler Jersey .C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. 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Christian Taylor Date of birth1990-06-18Birthplace FayettevilleHeight188 cmWeight79.0 kgOlympic Games (1 medal: 1 gold)Triple jump: 1st (2012)World Championships (2 medals: 2 gold)Triple jump: 1st (2011, 2015)World Indoor Championships (1 medal: 1 silver)Triple jump: 2nd (2012)Aiming for a double in the tripleWhen he took gold at the 2015 world championships with an enormous leap of 18.21m, Olympic champion Christian Taylor moved a step closer to breaking the fabled triple jump world record (18.29m), held by Great Britains Jonathan Edwards since 1995.Im so close to itt, and I would hate to end my career and be so close and not take it, the 26-year-old admits.ddddddddddddIts been 20 years since the record has stood. At the Olympic Games, why not make it something the viewers can remember?Gold medallist at London 2012 (17.81m) and a 2-time world champion (2011, 2015), Taylor is bidding to become the first triple jumper to win at successive Games since the legendary Soviet Viktor Saneyev (1968-1972-1976). ' ' '