Stephanie Schneider wins silver, bronze goes to hosts Canada with Christine de Bruin
Whistler (RWH): The 2-woman bobsleigh Olympic Champion Mariama Jamanka of Germany now holds the full set of bobsleigh titles. After winning gold at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, the European Championship title in Königssee, and the overall BMW IBSF World Cup 2018/2019, the 28-year-old athlete has now won her first ever World Championship title in the 2-woman bobsleigh. During the third heat of the BMW IBSF World Championships in Whistler (CAN), Jamanka and her brakewoman Annika Drazek took almost half a second off the track record, setting a new benchmark of 52.01 seconds. At the end of the final heat, Jamanka/Drazek had a 1.06-second lead over their team mates Stephanie Schneider/Ann-Christin Strack (GER), who took home silver.
The Canadian bobsleigh pilot Christine de Bruin – who was racing with brakewoman Kristen Bujnowski – celebrated her 30th birthday in style by winning World Championship bronze (1,17 seconds back), cheered on by plenty of family and fans on her home track.
Defending title holder Elana Meyers Taylor of the USA – who won the World Championships in both 2015 and 2017 – was lined up to take second place at the mid-way point in proceedings at the World Championships in Whistler. However, the Olympic silver medallist and her brakewoman Lake Kwaza crashed just short of the finish line during the third heat and were unable to make their final run.
Junior World Champion and European Championship bronze medallist Katrin Beierl of Austria, racing with her brakewoman Jennifer Onasanya, celebrated her best World Championship result by far in fourth place. The duo were just 0.21 seconds short of making history by winning Austria’s first ever World Championship medal in the 2-woman bobsleigh.
Mingming Huai/Yameng Wang (CHN), one of two teams competing from the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics, ended her World Championship début in 10th place.
Further information including the World Championships results are available at ibsf.org. ©RWH2019
Please find photos for editorial use on FLICKR
Related News
