Amy Gough Wins Bronze Medal For Second Straight Week at Skeleton World Cup in Utah
PARK CITY, UTAH—Canada’s Amy Gough slid to the bronze medal for the second straight week and doubled her career medal total in two weeks on the World Cup skeleton circuit en route to reaching the podium in Park City, Utah on Thursday.
The 33-year-old Gough, of Abbotsford, B.C., who was in fifth spot after the opening heat, put down a clean second run to clock a combined time of one minute 41.02 seconds (1:41.02) for third place.
“It feels really good to be able to do this again this week,” said Gough. “I thought it would actually be a lot more difficult today, but I pushed better today, was really focused and had two consistent runs.”
The 2010 Olympian landed on the podium for the second straight week to bring her total World Cup medal total to three in her two full years of sliding on the World Cup. Gough won the silver medal at the ParkCity event in last season’s World Cup opener.
“I really don’t think I have any advantage on this track. I just am really focused on putting two consistent runs together,” added Gough. “To be able to do this in Calgary and now SaltLake City is a bonus and gives me additional confidence. I’m not focused on the results, just on being consistent.”
Canada’s Mellisa Hollingsworth, of Eckville, Alta., narrowly missed the podium by finishing fourth in consecutive weeks. The 2006 Olympic bronze medallist, who won a silver medal at the season-opener in Whistler, stopped the clock at 1:41.18.
Calgary’s Sarah Reid also slid into the top-10 to round out the Canadian women’s contingent. The 23-year-old Reid crossed the finish line with a time of 1:41.65.
The women replicated last week’s World Cup podium in Calgary. Germany’s Anja Huber won her second gold medal in as many weeks after setting the time to beat at 1:40.62, while Shelley Rudman, of Great Britain, claimed the silver at 1:40.80.
Canada’s trio of Canadian men smothered the top-10. Olympic gold medallist, Jon Montgomery, led the Canucks with a 10th-place result at 1:38.94. Toronto’s Mike Douglas was 13th (1:39.02), while Calgary’s John Fairbairn settled in at 14th place (1:39.25).
Russia’s Alexander Tretiakov finished on top in the men’s race with a time of 1:38.48. Germany’s Sandro Stielicke clocked a silver-medal winning time of 1:38.49, while Latvia’s Martins Dukurs was third (1:38.50).
The World Cup continues on Friday in Park City, Utah with men’s and women’s bobsleigh action.
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.
