Olympic bobsleigh team is heavy on Hamilton

Poloniato leads Canadian medal hopefuls including Lumsden, Nemet, Stones — and just released Alouette Giguere

As expected, there will be a heavy Hamilton-area presence when Canada’s trio of men’s bobsleds take the track at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

Hamilton’s Nick Poloniato, who has been at the sport for just five years — but is in only his second season on the national World Cup squad — will pilot one of Canada’s three sleds in his first Olympics, along with veteran skips Chris Spring and Justin Kris.

Poloniato burst onto the major international season with a fifthplace finish in last year’s two-man World Championships, and had a pair of top-five World Cup finishes this season.

Jesse Lumsden, who grew up in Burlington and starred in football for the Nelson Lords, McMaster Marauders and Hamilton TigerCats, heads to his third Olympics as one of the best brakemen in the world. He’s already had a terrific season on the World Cup circuit.

Joey Nemet, who played football for Lumsden’s father, Neil, at Burlington’s Robert Bateman High School and has the record for most carries in Mac football history, is an alternate brakeman.

Whitby’s Cam Stones, is one of the nine starting brakeman and was an outstanding rugby player for McMaster. He also competed for Canada as captain of the under-20 rugby squad.

Joining Nemet on the two-man reserve squad is Sam Giguere, the former Tiger-Cat and Montreal Alouette receiver. He was released by the Als on Monday.

The bobsled competition runs in the final days of the Olympics. The two-man event goes Feb. 18 and 19. The four-man will is on Feb. 24 and 25, with the medals being awarded just hours before the closing ceremony.

Canada will enter the Games as a favourite to have at least one sled land on the podium.