WINTERBERG, Germany -AP) – German Francesco Friedrich won the races of bobsleigh, the two in Winterberg on Saturday, while Canadian Justin Kripps, who stepped on the podium with a third place.
Frederick won the 100. Medal of his World Cup career, including one in a team race. He prevailed together with Alexander Schueller in 1:49.78 and took his 13th victory at the last 14 World Cup races in pairs.
Germany also won the silver medal, with Johannes Lochner and Florian Bauer’s sled finishing in 1:50.11. Kripps from Summerland, British Columbia, and Cam Stones from Whitby, Ontario., were third in 1: 50.63.
“We were happy with the race today,” Kripps said. “We had two strong pushes, strong workouts and we were constant. We are currently working on this and testing some devices.”
Chris Spring from Vancouver and Jay Dearborn from Yaker, Ontario., were 10.
Hunter Church and Charlie Volker have graduated, and 13, to the United States, and the newly promoted Frank Del Duca along with Hakeem Abdul-Saboor finish 15. That was the beginning of Del Duca in the world cup as a pilot.
“This is one of Hunter’s best results this season, and Frank did a great job at his very first World Cup on a new track with a new sled,” said US coach Mike Kohn.
MONOBOB
American Elana Meyers Taylor won her fourth women’s singles title on Saturday, the 25th win of her career in a major international competition.
Australian Breanna Walker was second and German Laura Nolte third. American Kaillie Humphries from Calgary took fourth place, which means that the Americans joined Canada as the only nation with two sleds in the top six places.
Torontosin Cynthia Appiah was the best Canadian in fifth place. Melissa Lotholz from Barrhead, Alb., was sixth, and Christine de Bruin of Stony Plain, Alta., was eighth.
Meyers Taylor scored the best time of the first round and the second best time of the second round. She finished it in 1 minute and 58.76 seconds. Walker’s time was 1:58.93 and Nolte’s was 1:59.01.
Meyers Taylor won 19 victories in traditional two-person World Cup races, two more in World Championships and now four in monobob. The monobob exam will be part of the Olympic program for the first time at the Beijing Games, which means that bobsledders now have two medals.
