Kallie Humphries and brakeman Melissa Lotholz won silver at the women’s World Cup event at Park City, Utah on Friday.
The Canadian duo got off to a motoring star, with a 50.42 in their first run, and finish with a total of 1:40:82.
It was Humphries and Lotholz’s second straight medal, having captured gold at the season opener in Lake Placid earlier this month.
Canada’s Humphries, Lotholz win silver in Park City1:43
The pair were looking to defend their course title – after winning gold at Park City in 2016 – but were unable to hold off a strong challenge by American’s Jamie Greubel-Poser and Lauren Gibbs.
The Americans, having taken the lead in the first heat with a 50.32, never looked back, finishing with a 1:40:72 to capture their first World Cup win of the season.
“It was a really great day overall for our program and I’m happy we were able to get on the podium,” said Humphries, who pumped her fist at the finish line after matching the fastest second-run. “I was really happy with the second run. I hadn’t seen the times, but I knew the pushes were better and we held our spot.
“I’m trying to enjoy the process of competing as the stress gets higher. I need to remember it is just bobsledding so I want to make sure I’m having fun and be grateful for getting to do what I have a passion for doing. I was happy with how we did and showed that excitement when we crossed the line.”
Elana Meyers Taylor and Lolo Jones, also of the United States, finished third with a total of 1:40:99.
Including the 2014 Sochi Olympics, it was the 13th time that Greubel-Poser, Humphries and Meyers Taylor – the top three drivers on tour – swept the podium spots in an international race.
Canada’s Alysia Rissling and Kristen Bujnowski finished 7th with a total of 1:41:98.
Kripps rallies to silver
In the four-man bobsleigh Canada, for the first time ever, celebrated two podium finishes, taking silver and bronze in the season-opener.
For Justin Kripps, Lascelles Brown, Ben Coakwell and Neville Bright it was very nearly gold.
The crew were in 10th place after the first Heat, but everything changed after their blistering second run rally left them with a total of 1:36:83.
Justin Kripps takes 4-man bobsleigh silver1:45
A total that Germany’s Nico Walther, Kevin Kuske, Christian Poser and Eric Franke managed to beat by just 0.03 seconds, to swoop ahead with a combined 1:36:80.
“We climbed the ladder today and it was awesome,” laughed Kripps following the race. “I think we got hit a bit by the weather in the first heat. In that second run, I was having trouble controlling the sled, but I think I hit that middle part of the track really good and just made up a lot of time on the field.”
It was the sixth World Cup medal for Kripps in his career, and only his second in the featured four-man event. He also won a silver medal in the two-man event last weekend at the World Cup season-opener in Lake Placid.
Canada also got bronze thanks to Chris Spring, Jesse Lumsden, Alex Kopacz and rookie Seyi Smith, who rounded out the podium with their 1:36.86.
Chris Spring earns 4-man bobsleigh bronze in Park City1:09
The four-man event was original supposed to take place last week but got delayed due to weather-related concerns.
Live coverage continues on CBCSports.ca on Saturday with the women’s (12:30 p.m. ET, 3:30 p.m. ET) and men’s skeleton (2 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. ET) and more four-man bobsleigh (6 p.m. ET, 7:30 p.m. ET).
You can also catch more bobsleigh action on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on Road to the Olympic Games, our weekly show spotlighting the best high-performance athletes from Canada and around the world.
