Canadian Women Stack Up in Top-10 at Bobsleigh World Cup in Germany
ALTENBERG, Ger.—Canada posted three women’s sleds in the top-10 for the second consecutive week at the Bobsleigh World Cup in Altenberg, Germany.Canada’s Helen Upperton, of Calgary, piloted the Canada 1 sled to a fourth-place finish, while Kaillie Humphries, of Calgary, drove the Canada 2 sled into eighth spot and Lisa Szabon, of Nanton, Alta., posted a ninth-place finish in Canada 3.
“This was actually not a bad day at all for us,” said Tuff Latour, head coach. “Helen (Upperton) had some problems on the first run with her brakes, but it is encouraging to have three sleds up near the top each week.”
The 29-year-old Upperton, who won gold last weekend in Winterberg, Germany, teamed up again with Edmonton’s Jenny Ciochetti to post a two-run time of one minute 56.13 seconds en route to the fourth-place result. Upperton and Ciochetti overcame an unfortunate incident in their first run where the brakes dislodged part way down the challenging Altenberg track, costing them significant time. Sitting in sixth spot, the Canadian duo posted the second-fasted time in their final run, and narrowly missed the podium by one one-hundredth of a second.
In an effort to prepare sleds for a shot at the medals in the final two weeks of competition before the holiday break, head coach Tuffy Latour made some team changes on Saturday. Resting up Shelley-Ann Brown for next week’s race in Igls, Austria, Calgary’s Kaillie Humphries welcomed Amanda Moreley, of Surrey, B.C., into her sled this week. Humphries, who is one of the rising stars on the World Cup, finished eighth at 1:57.20.
Humphries’ teammate, Lisa Szabon also continues to climb her way up the international rankings. Struggling to crack the top-12 last season, the 26-year-old Szabon has consistently climbed three spots up the standings. Szabon teamed up with Calgary’s Sabrina Notarangelo, moved up five spots on the leaderboard in their second run, clocking a combined time of 1:57.26.
Germany’s Sandra Kiriasis moved up from fourth place after the opening heat to edge out teammate, Cathleen Martini, for her first World Cup victory of the season. Kiriasis and Berit Wiacker set the time to beat at 1:55.71. Martini and Janine Tischer settled for second spot at 1:55.73, while Shawna Rohbuck and Elana Meyers, drove the USA 2 sled into third place (1:56.12).
Canada had one sled in the men’s two-man race. Lyndon Rush, of Humboldt, Sask., and Calgary’s Lascelles Brown joined forces to post a 14th-place finish after stopping the clock at 1:54.16.
Meanwhile Germany’s Andre Lange stomped some authority on the deep international men’s field, handily winning on his home track with a two-run time of 1:52.60. Lange and teammate Kevin Kuske were joined on the podium by Steven Holcomb and Justin Olsen, of the United States, in the silver medal position (1:52.85), while Switzerland’s Beat Hefti and Thomas Lamparte were third (1:53.11).
Canada’s Pierre Lueders took the week off to recover after tweaking his neck during a crash in training this week with his four-man sled. Lueders is expected to compete again next week when the World Cup resumes in Igls, Austria.
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Top-Five Women’s Bobsleigh Results: complete results www.fibt.com
1.Sandra Kiriasis and Berit Wiacker, GER 1, 1:55.71; 2. Cathleen Martini and Janine Tischer, GER 2, 1:55.73; 3. Shawna Rohbuck and Elana Meyers, USA 2, 1:56.12; 4. Helen Upperton, Calgary, and Jenny Ciochetti, Edmonton, CAN, 1:56.13; 5. Claudia Schramm and Nicole Herschmann, GER 3, 1:56.17.
Other Canadian Women’s Results:
8. Kaillie Humphries, Calgary, and Amanda Moreley, Surrey, B.C., 1:57.20; 9. Lisa Szabon, Nanton, Alta., and Sabrina Notarangelo, Calgary, 1:57.26.
Top-Five Men’s Two-Man Bobsleigh Results:
1. Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske, GER 1, 1:52.60; 2. Steven Holcomb and Justin Olsen, USA 2, 1:52.85; 3. Beat Hefti and Thomast Lamparte, SUI 1, 1:53.11; 4. Matthias Hoepfner and Alex Mann, GER 2, 1:53.17; 5. Evgeny Popov and Sergey Prudnikov, RUS 1, 1:53.40.
Canadian Men’s Results:
14. Lyndon Rush, Humboldt, Sask., and Lascelles Brown, Calgary, CAN 2, 1:54.16
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Chris Dornan
Media and Public Relations
Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton
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