Bobsled pilot already has Spring in his slide
Veteran finds his comfort zone in Whistler as evaluation races loom ahead of Olympics
Christopher Spring says he feels comfortable on the track at the Whistler Sliding Centre, where he won his first World Cup medal, his first World Cup gold and set a record.
And then he pauses.
“Let me rephrase that. I feel comfortable coming here, but I never feel comfortable driving here,” said the veteran bobsled pilot. “I’ve often said to my coach it’s the fear that makes me a better driver. If I don’t have any fear going onto a bobsled track, usually I don’t drive that well.
“That little bit of fear creates this anxiety in me that makes me have to really switch on and make sure I’m paying attention. You might think, ‘How can this guy not pay attention at 154.5 km/h?’ But if you do something over and over again, it kind of gets a little mundane. But on this track, that fear creates the anxiety that makes me a really good driver.”
Piloting a four-man sled with Alex Kopacz, Josh Kirkpatrick and Derek Plug aboard, they hit a top speed of 154.5 km/h Wednesday during practice for this weekend’s evaluation races. Spring was pleasantly surprised by the result and had a post-run conversation with Tracy Seitz, managing director of the Whistler Sliding Centre.
“He said his records showed that 154.5 was the fastest ever recorded, so that’s why I put out that tweet.”
Spring proudly tweeted out a shot of the results sheet and proclaimed it a world record, prompting a quick reply from Canadian luger Sam Edney. He congratulated Spring on his run, but said a luger had recorded the world’s top speed of 156.5 km/h.
Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton communications consultant Chris Dornan said an Austrian accomplished the feat at Whistler before the men’s luge start height was lowered for the 2010 Olympics and beyond.
Bobsled officials made that decision after the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, who flew off the track and hit a pole during a practice run on the day of the opening ceremony.
Dornan also said Edney and former teammate Ian Cockerline both hit 155.5 km/h before the lowering of the start height.
“Sam and I, we’re good buddies and I’d like to believe him. At the same time, I’d like to own the speed record, too,” said a chuckling Spring, adding that he was going to get to the bottom of it.
He said that speedy run felt smooth, but not perfect.
“The better I get at this sport, the more I realize that an errorfree run is kind of like a unicorn. Is it really out there? Is it possible? I don’t know.
“Because there is always something. You know, I could have been a couple of inches to the right here or there. That’s what really keeps me motivated as a pilot: to try to have the perfect run.
“It wasn’t perfect, but it was very good and definitely very good where it needs to be good for speed. I had great lines in the critical acceleration points on the track.”
And how many are there? He closes his eyes and drives Whistler in his mind, the way he can with any track in the world.
“You could argue that it’s the whole way down, but for sure there are a few critical spots. I’m just closing my eyes now. Exit two, exit four, definitely in six, exit seven, exits 11, 12 and 13. Very, very critical.”
The 33-year-old has been driving at Whistler, eyes open, since 2008. He competed for his native Australia there at the 2010 Olympics and now drives for Canada. He hopes he’ll be at the controls with his current teammates in tow at the PyeongChang Olympics, but there are no guarantees.
“I’d like to say yes because we have good chemistry going on right now. But our head coach made it very clear in a meeting earlier this week that there will be some changes more than once during this World Cup season and heading into the Olympics. I would suspect that unless this team is breaking start records or starting fastest in the world during World Cup races, then this team will be changed.”
Hitting 154.5 km/h is a good sign, but only that for now.
“A good sign that the team was sitting really well on the way down, a good aerodynamic profile. A good sign obviously that I was driving well and that the equipment, the sled and the runners, was running really well, too.”
And a sure sign they were on the fastest track in the world, which is both a scary and comforting thought.