Hockey players emerge strongest team in Amazing Race 22

MANILA, Philippines - Brothers Bates and Anthony Battaglia proved they were the strongest team when they emerged the winning pair and bagged the much-coveted million-dollar prize in The Amazing Race 22, which concluded with a double episode last May 6.

The brothers, who are both professional hockey players from North Carolina, led the race which covered 10 countries and charted 30,000 miles. However, they didn’t come out as the team to beat in the first leg of the game. They got their first win only on the second leg in the French Polynesian island of Bora-Bora, where they won a trip for two to London.

After that, their next consecutive first place finishes were in the sixth leg in Vietnam, seventh leg which took them to Botswana and eighth leg in Grindelwald, Switzerland.

The other prizes that the brothers won were all truly rewarding. In the sixth leg, they got a trip for two to Phuket, Thailand. In the seventh leg, they had the chance to complete the Fast Forward and water ski to the finish line, taking home the cash prize of $7,500 each. In the eighth leg, they won a trip for two to Bora Bora.

Coming in second were newly-weds from Buffalo, New York Max and Katie Bichler, who were also strongly gunning for the first place finish after leading consecutively in three legs. In the ninth leg in Germany, they each won a 2013 Ford Fusion car. The 10th leg in Scotland gave them the prize money of $10,000 each, while the 11th leg in Northern Ireland won for them a trip for two to Dominican Republic.

Roller derby moms Mona Egender and Beth Bandimere from Colorado placed third in the race, despite the double U-turns, being saved by non-elimination in the ninth leg and completing the Speed Bump in the 10th leg.

The latest season of the race kicked off at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles last Feb. 18, with 11 teams which embarked on a race around the world. The teams re-converged at the final leg and pit stop in Washington, D.C.

First to be eliminated were firefighters Matthew Davis and Daniel Moss, followed by twin–doctors Idries and Jamil Abdur-Rahman, then surfer sweethearts John Erck and Jessica Hoel.

Father and son cancer survivors Dave and Connor O’Leary were the fourth team to be eliminated. They chose to quit in Leg 5 after Dave sustained a painful leg injury.

Succeeding pairs who made their exit were bestfriends Pamela Chien and Winnie Sung, Alabama couple Chuck and Wynona McCall, friends and YouTube hosts Joey Graceffa and Meghan Camarena, southern blondes/country singers Caroline Cutbirth and Jennifer Kuhle.

The Amazing Race 22 is hosted by Phil Keoghan and airs on AXN.