Chris Spring Finishes 10th in World Cup Bobsleigh Nightmare in Winterberg
—Lyndon Rush pilots Canada 1 sled to 20th—
WINTERBERG, Ger.—Canada’s Chris Spring posted another top-10 finish in the four-man bobsleigh race to wrap up a controversial weekend in Winterberg, Germany.
Battling through snow storms and an unlevel playing field for all competitors throughout the weekend, Calgary’s Spring and his crew of Toronto’s Tim Randall, Calgary’s Derek Plug and Graeme Rinholm, of Saskatoon, put down a two-run time of 1:51.48 to place 10th.
“It was a bit of a disaster all weekend to tell you the truth,” said Tom Delahunty, head coach Canadian Bobsleigh Team, who added the bad luck started when Kaillie Humphries was in the hunt for her second straight podium finish Saturday before a blizzard blew through the Winterberg track which drastically shook up the results.
“Snow caused problems all weekend and it was inconsistent for everyone with the track full of snow for some and not others. Today was just an absolute nightmare with snow coming on and stopping. The team left in good spirits today though and will enjoy the break before regrouping in Altenberg.”
The hard luck continued for Lyndon Rush who was the first Canadian to medal the Olympic four-man race in more than four decades when he grabbed the bronze at the 2010 Games. Rush, of Humboldt, Sask., rolled his Canada 2 sled on corner nine before flipping back onto its runners three turns later to finish the race. Rush and his Canada 1 crew of Jesse Lumsden, of Burlington, Ont., Ottawa’s Cody Sorensen and Edmonton’s Neville Wright, dropped to 20th with a two-run time of 1:53.37.
Tomas Florschuetz piloted his crew of Gino Gerhardi, Kevin Kuske and Thomas Blaschek to the gold medal in the Germany 1 sled with a time of 1:50.52. Russia’s Alexsandr Zubkov, Phillipp Egorov, Dmitry Trunenkov and Nikolay Hrenkov teamed up to win the silver at 1:50.54. Latvia’s Oskars Melbardis drove his crew of Helvijs Lusis, Arvis Vilkaste and Janis Strenga to the bronze medal position on the podium after clocking-in at 1:50.65.
The Canadian Team will now head home for the holiday break before the World Cup continues in Altenberg, Germany in January.
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 – VISA, Dow Chemical, Adidas, KBC Helmets, Eurotech – Viking Engineering, SAIT Polytechnic, Therapeutica – along with the Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium, Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton develops Olympic and world champions. Please visit us at www.bobsleighcanadaskeleton.ca.
Complete Results: www.fibt.com
Top-Five Men’s Bobsleigh Results:
1. Florschuetz/Gerhardi/Kuske/Blascheck, GER 1, 1:50.52;
2. Zubkov/Egorov/Trunenkov/Hrenkov, RUS 1, 11:50.54; 3. Melbardis/Lusis/Vilkaste/Strenga, LAT 2, 1:50.65; 4.
Holcomb/Olsen/Langton/Tomasevicz, USA 1, 1:50.69; 5. Kasjanov/Negodaylo/Belugin/Moiseev, RUS 2, 1:50.70
Canadian Results:
10. Chris Spring, Calgary/Tim Randall, Toronto/Derek Plug, Calgary/Graeme Rinholm, Saskatoon, CAN 2, 1:51.48; 20. Lyndon Rush, Humboldt, Sask./Jesse Lumsden, Burlington, Ont./Cody Sorensen, Ottawa/Neville Wright, Edmonton, CAN 1, 1:53.37
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