Fourth & fifth for bobsleigh opener
The opening weekend of World Cup bobsleigh competition saw Great Britain finish fourth and then fifth in Altenberg.
Brad Hall and Taylor Lawrence were just shy of the medals in the 2-man race on Saturday before they were joined by Leon Greenwood and Greg Cackett for another wider podium place in the 4-man on Sunday.
Hall and Lawrence were the top non-German sled in Saturday’s race as the home nation dominated at one of the most technical tracks on the circuit. Francesco Friedrich took gold, Johannes Lochner silver and Adam Ammour bronze in the first of eight World Cup competitions prior to the season showpiece World Championships in Lake Placid in March.
The British pair were the fourth fastest starters and fourth quickest finishers in each of the two heats as they clocked a combined time of 1 minute 49.84 seconds to miss a medal by 0.37 seconds.
Adam Baird and Austin Milward placed equal 18th in what was Baird’s second race in Altenberg and Milward’s World Cup debut in a time of 1 minute 51.70 seconds.
Adverse weather conditions saw Sunday’s 4-man competition reduced to a single heat and Hall, Lawrence, Greenwood and Cackett made light of a tough late start draw to finish fifth in a time of 54.46 seconds.
The Brits were the fifth fastest starters behind all three German sleds and the Austrian number ones as Friedrich again took top spot. Lochner matched his silver from Saturday but Austria’s Markus Triechl produced an identical time to finish joint second, with Ammour two hundreds of a second back from the medals.
In the women’s competitions, Adele Nicoll was 13th in a 23-strong field in the monobob on Saturday and again in the 2-woman event with Risqat Fabunmi-Alade on Sunday.
Nicoll, who is entering her first full World Cup season as a pilot, clocked 2.02.17 in the monobob, out driving her start times of 16th and 17th in both heats. The 2-woman race played out similarly as Nicoll improved on her start position by two places in Heat 1 and a single spot in Heat 2.
Fabunmi-Alade was making just her second World Cup appearance in what was only her fourth-ever bobsleigh competition at any level.
Laura Nolte, Lisa Buckwitz and Kim Kalicki ensured the German dominance wasn’t just restricted to the men’s events as they claimed a clean sweep of the medals in the women’s bobsleigh and finished one, two and four in the monobob. Only Romania’s Andreea Grecu prevented the hosts from winning every women’s medal on offer as she took monobob bronze ahead of Kalicki.
The World Cup circuit now moves to Sigulda in Latvia for the final top tier race before Christmas.
The weekend will feature monbob and women’s competition and a double dose of 2-man action as the track isn’t suitable for 4-man competition.
