Canada’s Cynthia Appiah and Niamh Haughey Slide to Eighth at Bobsleigh World Championships in St. Moritz
ST. MORITZ, Sui.—Canada’s Cynthia Appiah and Niam Haughey battled back to a top-10 finish in the two-women bobsleigh World Championships on Saturday in St. Moritz.
The Canadian duo teamed up to post an eighth-place time of 4:36.47 at the birthplace of the sliding sports.
“I’m slightly disappointed with how I drove over the race days. I was having really good runs in training and was hoping to bring those runs into the races and it just wasn’t meant to be,” said Appiah.
Sitting outside the top-10 after the opening two runs of the four-race test held over two days, the Toronto-based athletes dug deep in their final two runs to lock up a top-10 finish while navigating the 1,700-metre naturally refrigerated sheet of ice.
“Team Canada as a whole needs to begin developing our own sleds. We can’t rely on stock sleds anymore. We are fighting a losing battle against nations that have huge teams of engineers who invest thousands of dollars to get the best and fastest sleds possible,” added Appiah.
First year World Cup pilot, Bianca Ribi, continued her development while joining forces with Toronto’s Erica Voss for a 13th-place finish in their first World Championships.
The Canadian duo clocked a four-run time of 4:37.17 that was highlighted by throwing down the sixth-fastest time in the third heat on the sacred piece of ice that snakes its way to the finish in the town of Celerina.
Germany’s Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig were crowned World Champions with a time of 4:32.86. Lisa Buckwitz and Kira Lipperheide, also of Germany, were second at 4:32.91. Americans Kaillie Humphries and Kayshaw Love were the next best finishers in third at 4:33.37.
Canada’s Lonnie Bissonnette narrowly missed the podium in the Para-Bobsleigh World Championship race. The legendary Canadian Para slider scrapped his way into fourth-place after clocking the second-fastest final run time. Bissonnette posted a four-run total time of 4:54.32
The World Championships wrap up on Sunday with the final two heats in the four-man bobsleigh race.
Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton is a non-profit organization and the national governing body for the sports of bobsleigh and skeleton in Canada. With the support of its valued corporate partners – Karbon and Joe Rocket Canada – along with the Government of Canada, Own the Podium and the Canadian Olympic Committee, Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton develops Olympic and world champions. Please visit us at www.bobsleighcanadaskeleton.ca.