Canada’s Lyndon Rush Pilots Four-Man Crew to World Cup Bronze in New York

LAKE PLACID, N.Y.—Canada’s Lyndon Rush added histhird medal of the season into the vault after piloting his four-man crew tothird place at a World Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y. on Sunday. 

The30-year-old Rush, of Humboldt, Sask., and his crew of Calgary’s JustinWilkinson, Ottawa’s Cody Sorenson and Edmonton’s Neville Wright, bolted theCanada 1 sled to the bronze medal position on the podium with a two-run time ofone minute, 48.63 seconds (1:48.63).

“The crewdid really good today. Our push wasn’t the best, but they were solid,” saidRush, who added the team made some last minute changes with Rush’s Olympicteammate, Chris Le Bihan, unable to compete. “This is one of the toughesttracks in the world, and while I try to be motivated for every race, you haveto be ready here.”

TheCanada 1 sled was poised to grab its first four-man silver medal of the seasonafter sitting in second spot following the opening run, but the hard-chargingGerman team out-pushed the Canucks in the final heat to overtake them in thefinal standings.

Thebronze-medal finish is the third podium finish for Rush in the first fourevents of the post-Olympic season, doubling his career total. The 2010 Olympicbronze medallist in the four-man, finished second at the season-opener inWhistler, B.C., and added a third last week in Park City to go along with thebronze in Lake Placid.

“Ithasn’t been a bad start to the season, but I have expected a little more ofmyself,” said Rush, who has had to adjust to a new crew for the 2010-11 season.“I’m really excited about the four-man. The sled is going really well and theteam is starting to gel. I’ve had four crashes in my two-man sled this year.The sled is dinged up and needs some work. It has been tough slugging so I hopethat will turn around.”

Inaddition to becoming the first Canadian to pilot the nation to an Olympic medalin the four-man event in more than 40 years at the 2010 Games, the formerfootball player with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies enjoyed abreakthrough season last year where he won World Cup races in both the two- andfour-man events. He also won a bronze medal in the four-man prior to theOlympics.

Rush hasbeen chasing down Steven Holcomb of the United States over the last two seasons.The Olympic champ teamed up with Justin Olsen, Steven Langton and CurtisTomasevicz to claim the gold on their home track with a time of 1:48.01.

Germany’sMaxmillian Arndt, Rene Tiefert, Alexander Roediger and Martin Putze joinedforces to solidify the silver medal after clocking in at 1:48.59.

Canadianathletes will now return home for the holiday break before the World Cupresumes in Igls, Austria, January 14-16, 2011.

BobsleighCANADA Skeleton is a non-profit organization and the national governing bodyfor the sports of bobsleigh and skeleton in Canada. With the support of itsvalued corporate partners - VISA, Dow Chemical, Adidas, Schenker Canada - alongwith the Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium,Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton develops Olympic and world champions. Please visit usat www.bobsleighcanadaskeleton.ca 

Complete Results: www.fibt.com

Top-Five Men’s Four-Man Results:

1.Holcomb/Olsen/Langton/Tomasevicz, USA, 1:48.01; 2. Arndt/Tiefert/Roediger/Putze,GER, 1:48.59; 3. Rush, Humboldt, Sask./Wilkinson, Calgary/Sorenson,Ottawa/Wright, Edmonton, CAN, 1:48.63; 4. Angerer/Friedrich/Mann/Speer, GER 2,1:48.98; 5. Kasjanov/Yurkov/Stepushkin/Belugin, RUS 2, 1:49.07

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