Lyndon Rush Caps Off Stellar Weekend for Canadian Bobsledders with Fourth-Place Finish at Altenberg World Cup

ALTENBERG, Ger.—Lyndon Rush capped off one of the most successful weekends for Canadian bobsleigh athletes when he finished fourth in the men’s World Cup four-man race in Altenberg, Germany on Sunday.

The 29-year-old from Humboldt, Sask., along with his Calgary-based crew of Chris Le Bihan, Dan Humphries and Lascelles Brown hopped in the Canada 1 sled and clocked a two-run time of one minute 48.35 seconds.

“We finally had a breakthrough here and I am happy because this is a very special track,” said Rush. “I think as a team we are gaining more confidence each race, but I’m really not trying to think about results. My goal is always strong pushes and a good driving. I still have a long way to go and lots to learn because Lange beat me by more than one second today.”

Rush and his crew had an unexpected surprise to finish the pre-Christmas stint on the World Cup schedule. After crossing the finish line during his second run on the challenging Altenberg track, he flipped his Canada 1 sled in the slow down corner.

“The ice was so fast because it was so cold and I couldn’t correct it going into that corner. Next thing I knew I was on my head,” said Rush, who added a number of other drivers also found themselves on their sides at the four-man finish. “I almost had a heart attack in there because all I could think of is I better not have hurt my guys. Thankfully we were all fine.”

Rush posted his best-ever two man result on Saturday when he fished fifth – the same day the Canadian women made history on the bobsleigh track by winning gold and silver. Rush and his four-man crew have enjoyed a stellar start to the World Cup season by capturing his first World Cup race in Park City, Utah, along with a bronze-medal two weeks ago in Cesana, Italy.

“It has been a great start, but we do have a long way to go. I think all the credit this week has to go to our entire support team of coaches, therapist and mechanics,” added Rush. “Together we were a great team this week and it was an awesome week for Canada.”

Andre Lange drove his way to the top of the podium for the second straight day in the Germany 1 sled. Lange, along with Rene Hoppe, Kevin Kuske and Martin Putze took advantage of huge pushes to clock a winning time of 1:47.23.

Steven Holcomb, Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curtis Tomasevicz took continued their torrid pace in the four-man by winning the silver medal with a time of 1:47.99. Russia’s Evgeny Popov, Denis Moiseychenkov, Andrey Yurkov and Alexey Kireev locked up third spot at 1:48.23.

Canada’s Bobsleigh and Skeleton Teams will now head home for the holiday break before returning to the World Cup season in the New Year.

For more information on Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton, please visit us at www.bobsleigh.ca on the Internet.

Top-Five Men’s Four-Man Bobsleigh Results:

1.Lange/Hoppe/Kuske/Putze, GER 1, 1:47.23; 2. Holcomb/Olsen/Mesler/Tomasevicz, USA 1, 1:47.99; 3. Popov/Moiseychenkov/Yurkov/Kireev, RUS 3, 1:48.23; 4. Rush, Humboldt, Sask./Le Bihan, Calgary/Humphries, Calgary/Brown, Calgary, CAN 1, 1:48.35; 5. Minins/Dneiskens/Melbardis/Dambis, LAT 1, 1:48.39.

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