Silver and bronze at the European Championships go to Nadezhda Sergeeva and Christina Hengster

Winterberg (RWH): World Cup win for Elana Meyers Taylor (USA) and European Championship gold for Mariama Jamanka of Germany: At the BMW IBSF World Cup in Winterberg (GER), pilot Meyers Taylor and her brakewoman Kehri Jones secured their first win of this World Cup season in the two-woman bobsleigh. Mariama Jamanka and her brakewoman Annika Drazek finished second in the World Cup (0.07 seconds behind) for their first podium finish as well as her first European Championship title as the race also counted as the 2017 IBSF European Championships. Annika Drazek, who hit the track in Winterberg for her first race of the season following an injury, won both the European and World Championships in the 2015/2016 season with pilot Anja Schneiderheinze.
Third place at the BMW IBSF World Cup went to the second US pairing of Jamie Greubel Poser / Aja Evans (0.24 seconds behind).

Silver medal at the 2017 European Championships in Winterberg went to the Russians Nadezhda Sergeeva/Anastasia Kocherzhova, who secured the first ever European Championship medal in the two-woman bobsleigh for their country. Finishing in fourth at the World Cup, Nadezhda Sergeeva also achieved her best result this season. In the European Championships, third place in Winterberg was awarded to Christina Hengster/Jennifer Onasanya (AUT). This mean that Austria also received their first ever European Championship medal in the two-woman bobsleigh event.

Halfway through the season, following the fourth of eight races, Olympic Champion Kaillie Humphries (CAN 834 points) continues to lead the overall standings for the 2016/2017 BMW IBSF World Cup after finishing fifth in Winterberg. Jamie Greubel Poser (USA, 809) is second overall, ahead of Christina Hengster (AUT, 762). ©RWH2016-2017

Quotes:

Mariama Jamanka (GER, seventh in the World Championships and sixth in the European Championships in 2016)
“To be honest, I don’t really know what today happened either. We finally got it right and then things got really good. After the first run, I had to try hard to keep my cool.”

Elana Meyers Taylor (USA, 2015 World Champion, 2014 Olympic silver medallist, overall winner in the 2015 World Cup)
“I am so happy to have got the victory here today. Races like these are always really interesting and exciting. It was pretty tough for me today after my grandfather passed away this week, but he was watching over me.”

Nadezhda Sergeeva (RUS, seventh in the 2015 European Championships)
“I’m really, really happy. It’s my first medal as well as a first for Russia. But I wasn’t really thinking about that during the race, I was just concentrating on my performance.”

Christina Hengster (AUT, third overall in the 2016 World Cup, fourth in the European Championships and sixth in the World Championships in 2016)
“Finally, my long-awaited European Championship medal! I’m super happy. The starts went really well; however, I thought my second run would be a little quicker.”

All photos: Eugen Eslage