Amy Gough Wins Bronze Medal at Skeleton World Cup in Calgary
CALGARY—Canada’s Amy Gough slid to the World Cup podium for the second time of her career when she captured the bronze medal on her home track in Calgary on Thursday.
The 33-year-old Gough, of Abbotsford, B.C., sat in fourth spot behind Canada’s Mellisa Hollingsworth after the first of two runs. The Olympic teammates switched spots after their final trip down the track when Gough put down one of her best runs of the early season to finish third. Gough, who won a silver medal in the World Cup opener last year in Park City, Utah, clocked a two-run combined time of one minute, 56.89 seconds (1:56.89).
“I was pretty nervous heading into this race. But it is a track I’m definitely comfortable on, and I had a great race,” said Gough, who finished seventh at the 2010 Games. “My goal this year was to really come out and be as consistent as possible. Today’s goal though was to get a Canadian on the podium and we did that.”
Hollingsworth, of Eckville, Alta., had a disappointing day after popping out of the grooves on the start in both runs down the track. The 30-year-old Olympic bronze medallist settled for fourth spot at 1:56.98. Calgary’s Sarah Reid rounded out the Canadian contingent with her second consecutive seventh-place finish after stopping the clock at 1:57.86.
Germany’s Anja Huber captured her first gold medal of the 2010-11 season after sliding to the podium for the second straight week. Huber set the time to beat at 1:55.84. Shelley Rudman, of Great Britain, was third with a time of 1:56.89.
The three Canadian men had all they could handle on their home track. Olympic gold medallist, Jon Montgomery, led the red and white with an 11th-place finish. The Russell, Man. native, who won the World Cup opener last week in Whistler, B.C., clocked a two-run time of 1:54.00.
Calgary’s World Cup rookie, Jon Fairbairn was 12th at 1:54.02, while Toronto’s Mike Douglas was 13th (1:54.37).
Latvia’s Martins Dukurs slid to the top of the men’s podium with a time of 1:52.14. Russia’s Alexander Tretiakov slid to the silver medal with a time of 1:52.23, while Kristan Bromley, of Great Britain, was third at 1:52.98.
The World Cup continues on Friday at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary with men’s and women’s bobsleigh races.
Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton is the national governing body for the sports of bobsleigh and skeleton in Canada. With the support of its valued corporate partners - VISA, Dow Chemical, Adidas, Schenker Canada - along with the Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium, Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton develops Olympic and world champions. Please visit us at www.bobsleighcanadaskeleton.ca.
1. Martins Dukurs, LAT, 1:52.14; 2. Alexander Tretiakov, RUS, 1:52.23; 3. Kristan Bromley, GBR, 1:52.98; 4. Matthew Antoine, USA, 1:52.23; 5. Sandro Stielicke, GER, 1:53.30.
Canadian Results:
11. Jon Montgomery, Russell, Man., 1:54.00; 12. John Fairbairn, Calgary, 1:54.02; 13. Mike Douglas, Toronto, 1:54.37.
