—Bianca Ribi places 9th, Taylor Austin and Shaquille Murray-Lawrence slide to 11th—
WINTERBERG, Ger.—Canada’s top bobsleigh athletes struggled to find the fast line while sliding around the top-10 on Saturday in Winterberg, Germany.
Cynthia Appiah led the way for two Canadian sleds in the women’s monobob race. The 32-year-old Torontonian clocked an eighth-place time of 2:00.13.
“I wasn’t happy with today’s results. I struggled in key corners during the training week, and it carried into the race day,” said Appiah, who is driving in her second full season on the World Cup. “I tried to match my results from last season, and that wasn’t the right head space to be in.”
Appiah was third on the 15-corner Winterberg track one year ago. She sits in sixth place overall in this year’s World Cup monobob standings, thanks to a silver and bronze medal in the opening two races.
“I’ve learned a lot today, lessons that I’ll take into tomorrow’s two-woman race, and keep in mind for next year’s World Championships,” said Appiah.
Canada’s rookie World Cup pilot, Bianca Ribi, had two consistent runs while sliding to ninth. The 26-year-old Calgarian, who was victorious in her World Cup debut in November at the Whistler Sliding Centre, post a two-run time of 2:00.14. Ribi is in seventh place in the overall World Cup monobob standings.
Germany’s Laura Nolte won the monobob race with a time of 1:59.54. American Kaillie Humphries was second at 1:59.72. Germany’s Kim Kalicki slid to the final spot on the podium at 1:59.73.
In the men’s two-man bobsleigh race, Taylor Austin teamed up with Shaquille Murray-Lawrence (Scarborough, Ont.) in the lone Canadian sled.
The 32-year-old Austin and Murray-Lawrence finished in 11th place with a time of 1:52.66.
Germany’s Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer won the men’s race with a time of 1:51.17. Switzerland’s Michael Vogt and Sandro Michel were second at 1:51.31. Brad Hall and Taylor Lawrence, of Great Britain, took the bronze at 1:51.44.
The two-woman and four-man bobsleigh races will take place on Saturday in Winterberg.
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.
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