Two Canadian Sleds Finish Eighth at Bobsleigh World Championships
LAKE PLACID, USA—A pair of eighth-place finishes highlighted the final day of World Championship bobsleigh racing for Team Canada in Lake Placid, New York on Saturday.
Taylor Austin and his Ontario-based crew of Mike Evelyn O’Higgins (Ottawa), Keaton Bruggeling (Ottawa) and Shaq Murray-Lawrence (Scarborough, Ont.) had a career-best World Championship finish, placing eighth at 2:45.64. Two varsity track and field teammates from northern Alberta – Melissa Lotholz and Leah Walkeden – matched that result in the two-woman race with a time of 3:49.16.
The 35-year-old Austin and his high-powered crew saved their best for last, putting down the fifth-fastest run in the third and final heat of the condensed World Championship four-man race, to move into the top-10 finish.
“I have mixed emotions from today. We had big goals coming into Lake Placid and missed the mark, but we pulled it together in the final heat, and we were able to move up and have my best World Championship result,” said Austin, who hails from Lethbridge, Alta. “It is great to finish things on a high note going into the Olympic season. The guys pushed great and fought right until the end.”
Two other Canadian sleds hit the start block for the four-man competition.
Ottawa’s Pat Norton joined forces with Mark Zanette (Woodbridge, Ont.) and Calgarians – Yohan Eskrick-Parkinson and Chris Ashley to clock a 15th-place time of 2:47.72.
A developing four-man team of Jay Dearborn (Yaker, Ont.), Kenny M’Pindou (Edmonton), Cesar de Guzman (Toronto), and Tobi Ade (Calgary) placed 20th at 2:49.66.
The Germans grabbed the top two spots on the podium. Francesco Friedrich, Matthias Sommer, Alexander Schuller, and Felix Straub were crowned World Champions with a time of 2:44.52. Johannes Lochner, Florian Bauer, Jorn Wenzel and Georg Fleischhauer clocked the fastest final run time to secure the silver medal at 2:44.80.
The British foursome of Brad Hall, Arran Gulliver, Taylor Lawrence and Greg Cackett were third with a time of 2:45.00.
It was two Albertans putting their energy together in the top Canadian sled of the two-woman bobsleigh test.
Melissa Lotholz and Leah Walkeden - two former University of Alberta Pandas track teammates – capped off their pre-Olympic season with an eighth-place finish, posting a time of 3:49.16 over four runs on the 20-corner track.
“I think honestly, we executed a super consistent race and just kept trying to show up. That is what you have to do in a four-run race. You have to take it every run and corner at a time,” said Lotholz, who won bronze in her final two-woman World Cup race of the season in Lillehammer, Norway. “I feel like I’ve developed into a consistent pilot over the last seven years. Considering how dominant the Germans and Americans are as athletes, drivers, and their equipment, I think we have a lot to be proud of because we were fighting with the top dogs this week.”
The two Canucks threw down a sixth-place time in the final heat to jump two spots into eighth overall.
“I really don’t think we did anything special. I made a couple of small mistakes in my first and third runs. The final heat was good but truthfully wasn’t way better than the rest. We are the consistency Queens. We waited for others to screw up and they did. That’s the key to any four-run race. It doesn’t matter where you are,” said Lotholz.
The Canadians improved their starts on Sunday, pushing 10th-place times in both of the final two heats.
“I thought we struggled yesterday to show our true push potential, so I felt a bit down. I wasn’t sure if it was me, but realized we had a bit of a technical problem where we weren’t hitting the right depth on our starts,” said Walkeden. “We regrouped overnight and pushed a lot better today. The last was our best. Our timing was great.”
Edmonton’s Walkeden and Lotholz (Barrhead, Alta.) reconnected this season to add another chapter in a journey that began with them running track and field against each other in grade school, evolving into being teammates on the University of Alberta Pandas, and coincidentally now on the Canadian Bobsleigh Team.
“Leah and I have come together great. We do have a long history together, and it’s been fun reuniting in bobsleigh,” added Lotholz earlier this year. “I know Leah can take care of business, and I trust and respect her to do her job at the start and when it comes to sled work. She trusts me to do mine. We have quickly fell into a rhythm together and found that we are motivated by similar things and values.”
“Mel and I had a chat early in season that we do need to trust that each other will take care of all of our own details. It is great to have that trust,” added Walkden. “I think the year went super well. We are both professionals and we just rode that professionalism through all of the ups and downs that come in a season. Professionalism is one of the true pillars of our team. We both have a job to do, and we go out and do it. It’s now time for some good rest, and then we will likely start training together in Edmonton.”
Canada’s other two sleds also fought their way into the top 15.
Cynthia Appiah (Toronto) and rookie Skylar Sieben (Cochrane, Alta.) also had a strong final run to jump into 11th at 3:49.81. Calgary’s Bianca Ribi and Niamh Haughey (Toronto) battled to 15th spot at 3:51.05.
The Germans swept the women’s podium. Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi were tops over the two-day affair with a golden time of 3:46.00. Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig slid to the silver medal at 3:46.52, while Lisa Buckwitz and Kira Lipperheide completed the sweep with a time of 3:47.46.
Complete World Championship Four-Man Results:
https://www.ibsf.org/en/result/504309/?cHash=570053d4866011c915996c903ff777c9
Complete World Championship Two-Woman Results:
https://www.ibsf.org/en/result/504314/?cHash=5b7d839d8c25ce0ba2b6d6c2dd874541
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, Athabasca Oil Corporation in collaboration with Canada Actions I Love Energy – along with the Government of Canada, Own the Podium and the Canadian Olympic Committee, Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton develops champions in the community, on and off the track, who have a passion for bobsleigh and skeleton. Please visit us at www.bobsleighcanadaskeleton.ca.