Christine de Bruin third at BMW IBSF World Cup in Sigulda, Meyers Taylor in the lead
Sigulda (RWH) Elana Meyers Taylor of the USA celebrated her first 2-woman bobsleigh victory of the 2021/2022 Olympic winter at the BMW IBSF World Cup in Sigulda (LAT) and also took the lead in the overall standings.
With Lake Kwaza as her push athlete, Meyers Taylor was in the lead after the first run - in track record time (50.72 seconds) - at the same time as the Russian duo Nadezhda Sergeeva/Yulia Belomestnykh. While the US athletes clocked the second best time in the second World Cup run in Sigulda, the Russians crashed and finished 15th.
Mica McNeill (GBR, 0.22 seconds back), 2018 Olympic eighth in PyeongChang, celebrated her first ever BMW IBSF World Cup podium in Sigulda. With push athlete Adele Nicoll, the 2017 European Championship fourth finished in second place. Mica McNeill's best result before in the current Olympic season was 16th place at the opening event in Innsbruck (AUT), her best result ever was a fourth place in December 2020 in Innsbruck (AUT).
Third place in Sigulda went to Canada's Christine de Bruin / Kristen Bujnowski (0.24 seconds back). For de Bruin, the 2019 and 2020 World Championships bronze medallist, it was the fourth World Cup podium in the sixth race of the season.
Huai Mingming/Wang Xuan and Ying Qing/Du Jiani of Olympic hosts China celebrated their best ever 2-woman bobsleigh results in the BMW IBSF World Cup, finishing fourth and sixth respectively.
With her victory, Elana Meyers Taylor (USA, 1129 points) also took the lead in the overall BMW IBSF World Cup standings. Christine de Bruin (CAN, 1088) is second overall ahead of Laura Nolte (GER, 1061 points). Nolte, the European and Junior World Champion did not compete in Sigulda.
For more detailed information including athlete profiles and results please visit ibsf.org. Photos for editorial use can be found at Flickr. ©RWH2022
Photos: IBSF / Viesturs Lacis
