American Holcomb sets the pace in the four-man bob

From Sportsbeat staff, in Whistler

WORLD champion Steven Holcomb set the pace in the first run of the men's four-man bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

SETTING THE PACE: The USA's Steve Holcomb leads after the first run of the four-man bob as Canada's Lyndon Rush is second (Getty Images)

The American, teaming up with Steve Mesler, Curtis Tomasevicz and Justin Olsen, set off first at the Whistler Sliding Centre and was the only competitor to beat the 51 second mark, eventually finishing in 50.89 seconds.

Canada's Lyndon Rush saw his hopes of two-man gold go up in smoke after rolling in his second run but the 29-year old put himself in contention for a four-man medal, lying second after the first run.

The Canadian, with David Bissett, Lascelles Brown and Chris Le Bihan, set off seventh and finished 0.23 slower than Holcomb.

Meanwhile, Germany's one-two from the two-man bobsleigh placed joint third in Whistler.

Defending champion Andre Lange, who successfully defended his two-man title, and challenger Thomas Florschuetz both clocked 51.14 to lie 0.25 behind Holcomb.

Great Britain's John James Jackson, who also rolled in the two-man, has teamed up with Dan Money, Allyn Condon and Henry Nwume and is currently 11th, having clocked 51.53.

"We're happy with that, it was a good run. It's good to get our first run under our belts today," said Jackson.

"We were pleased with the top, but like everyone else we're still having problems with 11, 12 and 13. We made good progress and we're looking forward to the second run."

 AS IT HAPPENS: Day 15 of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver