Canada is back on the international bobsleigh and skeleton circuit!!
While the global pandemic continues to run its course, Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton are incredibly proud of the adaptability, perseverance and resilience the athletes and coaches have shown in recent months. The team didn't have to get ready for competition in 2021 - they stayed ready!
After spending the first half of the season training at home at the Whistler Sliding Centre, the Senior and Development teams spent their holiday break in self-isolation before traveling across the Atlantic to join the IBSF World Cup, ICC and Europe Cup circuits, building toward competing at the 2021 IBSF World Championships that will now be hosted in Altenberg, GER.
The first weekend of racing brought a fantastic return for the Canadian sliders across all circuits. Things are very different on the IBSF circuits with extra precautions and protocols in place to keep participants and communities safe, but the racing is just as exciting as ever! |
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| Canadian athletes have been sliding onto the international podium across all bobsleigh and skeleton disciplines throughout the second half of the 2020-21 season. We are trying to stay on top of all podium performances. The medal count was last updated January 11th 2021. |
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This weekend saw Team Kripps and Team de Bruin return to the World Cup circuit. The two veteran pilots along with their brakeman were ready to compete, and they did just that!
De Bruin teamed up with rookie brakeman, Sara Villani, to clock a fifth-place finish. Olympic brakeman, Cam Stones, pushed Kripps, to a fifth-place finish of their own. Both pilots logging personal bests on the Winterberg track.
Read more about de Bruin's return to the World Cup here
Kripps and his veteran 4-man crew that included Stones along with Ben Coakwell and Ryan Sommer were back on the ice Sunday where they capped off the weekend with a silver-medal finish.
Find out more about how Kripps slid into second place in Winterberg
Canada's skeleton athletes also put up a good fight in their return to the World Cup circuit. Elisabeth Maier, who competed in the final two races before the holiday break in Igls, Austria, was joined by 2018 Olympic teammate, Kevin Boyer, along with two Canucks, Jaclyn Laberge and Mark Lynch, who were both making their World Cup debuts.
Maier finished in 6th place following her return from maternity leave, last season and Laberge was in 21st. Boyer placed 16th, closely followed by Lynch in 18th spot. |
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It was a comeback worth waiting for. Last week we saw the return of Christopher Spring and Alysia Rissling to the start line. Both veteran pilots took last year off to recover from injuries. They picked up where they left off - sliding onto the podium.
Spring teamed up with Mark Mlakar proving the duo to be a force to be reckoned with, fishing third in his first race of the Europe Cup in Altenberg, GER. Spring topped that performance with a silver-medal finish with Mike Evelyn on the brakes.
Team Spring capped off the week, which marked the ninth anniversary of his horrific crash during a training run on the challenging Altenberg track that sent he and his crew to hospital on January 5, 2012, with winning the gold in the four-man race, that included CFLer Shaquille Murray-Lawrence also jumping into the sled.
Read more about Spring's successful return to sliding here
Rissling made her return with Erica Voss who was on the start line for the first time in her career. Rissling and Voss proved they were a recipe for success as they slid to the bronze medal, leading the way for the women's Canadian sleds. Cynthia Appiah and Catherine Medeiros finished in fourth spot, Melissa Lotholz and Niamh Haughey were fifth and Bianca Ribi and Steph Drost finished in sixth.
Find out more about Cynthia Appiah and her desire to be the best representation in sport.
Read the full Europe Cup competition summary here |
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Coming Up
As we head into the next week of competition take a look below and see where your favourite athletes will be competing:
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BMW IBSF World Cup #6 St Moritz, SUI
January 10th - 17th, 2021
Bobsleigh:
- Team Kripps
- Team de Bruin
- Team Spring
- Team Rissling
Skeleton:
- Elisabeth Maier
- Jaclyn LaBerge
- Mark Lynch
- Kevin Boyer
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IBSF Europe Cup #6 Altenberg, GER
January 10th - 15th, 2021
Bobsleigh:
- Team Appiah
- Team Lotholz
- Team Ribi
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IBSF Intercontinental Cup #1 Altenberg, GER
January 13th - 16th, 2021
Skeleton:
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