Christine de Bruin finishes second in Altenberg ahead of Elana Meyers Taylor in third
Altenberg (RWH): A second win of the season for the current Olympic Champion and a surprise in second place: The bobsleigh pilot Mariama Jamanka (GER) – gold medallist from the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang – has celebrated her second win of the BMW IBSF World Cup season at the race in Altenberg (GER). Racing with her brakewoman Annika Drazek, the current leader in the World Cup standings achieved a 0.31-second lead over second place after the race’s two heats. The surprise silver medallists in Altenberg were the Canadian pairing of Christine de Bruin/Kristen Bujnowski, who achieved their first ever World Cup podium finish. Prior to Altenberg, Christine de Bruin’s best result had been a sixth-place finish. Third place in Altenberg went to Olympic silver medallist Elana Meyers Taylor of the USA and her brakewoman Lake Kwaza (0.39 seconds back).
Mica McNeill/Montell Douglas (GBR) were within reach of a historic result. For the first time in their careers, the pairing took the lead in the first heat, finishing 0.04 seconds ahead of the two teams in joint second, Jamanka/Drazek and Canada’s Alysia Rissling/Bianca Ribi. However, the Brits ended up falling back to fourth place during the second heat. Nevertheless, they still achieved their best World Cup result to date despite missing out on Team GB’s first World Cup win for over 20 years after Michelle Coy/Cheryl Done’s victory in Calgary during the 1997/1998 season. The last British team to secure a World Cup podium finish was Nicola Minichiello/Gillian Cooke, who finished in second and third in Königssee and St. Moritz respectively back in January 2009.
Mariama Jamanka (GER, 660 points) has now further extended her lead in the overall standings for the 2018/2019 BMW IBSF World Cup. Anna Köhler (GER, 576 points) is second overall after finishing fifth in Altenberg while Nadezhda Sergeeva of Russia follows in third with 562 points following her seventh-place finish in Altenberg.
Further information, the World Cup results and the latest overall standings are available at ibsf.org. ©RWH2019
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