Canada’s Kaillie Humphries has put herself in position to win her third world title.
Humphries and brakeman Melissa Lotholz raced to a two-run time of one minute, 43.16 seconds on Friday to sit in second place at the world bobsleigh championships in Königssee, Germany.
In essence, the women’s event has turned into a three-team race as only five one-hundredths of a second separate the top contenders.
Americans Elana Meyers Taylor and Kehri Jones finished with the fastest two-run time, clocking at 1:43.14. U.S. compatriots Jamie Greubel and Poser Aja Evans posted the quickest second heat, standing third overall at 1:43.19.
Humphries, from Calgary, continues to shine on the driving front. However, the team was hurt by slow start times on Friday. Humphries, and Calgary partner Lotholz were only seventh in the first heat (5.28 seconds) and dropped to eighth (5.26) during the second run.
It appeared Meyers Taylor and Jones, who led their Canadian counterparts by 0.09 seconds after Heat 1, would extend their margin in the second heat.
The Americans enjoyed a 0.22-second advantage during at one interval, but slowly started losing time to the point where they almost surrendered the lead to Humphries and Lotholz.
Unlike World Cup races, which consist of two runs, the world championship event is four runs — the same as the Olympics.
The women’s event, which is live streamed on CBCSports.ca, concludes on Saturdaywith the third and fourth runs at 9:15 a.m. ET and 10:45 a.m. ET.
The first two of the 2-man bobsleigh runs begins on Saturday at 4:15 a.m. ET and 6 a.m. ET.
