Cynthia Appiah Wins Bobsleigh Bronze at Season Finale in Latvia
SIGULDA, Lat.— Cynthia Appiah put an exclamation mark on a solid post-Olympic season by winning the bronze medal in the final monobob race of the year in Sigulda, Latvia on Saturday.
Posting the top start times in both heats on the 16-corner track, the 32-year-old Appiah battled to third place for the second straight week, finishing deadlocked with China’s Qing Ying at 1:47.10.
“I missed out on racing here last year due to the COVID outbreak on our team, so I came in with some trepidation, and I also didn’t have the greatest training week,” said Appiah, who crashed on both training days. “Sigulda is more of a luge and skeleton track, so it is much harder to navigate in a bobsleigh.
“My goal was to have as clean of a run as possible because I knew my starts, coupled with my decent runs, would lead me to the podium.”
Lightening quick off the starting block with start records in both runs (5.62 and 5.60), the Torontonian was chasing down her first victory of the season but struggled in perfecting the bottom portion of the track.
“I knew I had what it took to win the race, but the mistake I made out of corner 15 on both runs caused me to lose a lot of time,” added Appiah. “Hopefully the Tour returns here in the coming years. The track is similar to Lake Placid and Altenberg – two tracks that I enjoy driving and suit my driving style.”
American Kaillie Humphries won the race with a time of 1:46.52. Germany’s Kim Kalicki stormed back in the second run to take the silver medal with a time of 1:46.96.
The back-to-back bronze medal finishes secured Appiah the Crystal Globe for placing third in the overall World Cup standings. In her eight races this season on the World Cup, Appiah grabbed one silver and four bronze medals. She also had one fifth place finish and slid to sixth at the World Championships.
“I am so happy to have been able to finish the season with my first Crystal Globe as a pilot,” said Appiah. “It has been a challenging season, but sliding has been fun overall, and I found the fun that been missing for me these last few years. It has reignited my passion for driving again.”
Appiah will head to the start line on Sunday to tackle her final two runs of the season in the two-woman event.
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