Humphries wins gold in Whistler
WHISTLER — Canada’s Kaillie Humphries is golden again in Whistler.
The Calgary pilot and brakeman Melissa Lotholz of Barrhead, Alta., raced to a two-run time of one minute 45.37 seconds to win the women’s World Cup bobsled race Saturday.
Humphries now owns three golds, a silver and a bronze in World Cup competition at the 16-corner, 1,450-metre ice chute. Jamie Greubel Poser of the United States was second in 1:45.52 and Christina Hengster of Austria was third in 1:45.64.
Humphries and Lotholz top the overall standings this season with four golds, a silver and a bronze through six races. Humphries now has 36 career World Cup medals, including 17 golds.
Earlier Saturday, Canada’s Dave Greszczyszyn recorded a career-best fifth-place finish in men’s skeleton. The 36-year-old slider from Brampton, Ont., was fifth after the first run and maintained that position thanks to a combined time of 1:45.68. Greszczyszyn’s previous best came in 2013 when he was sixth in Calgary.
“I posted on Facebook this morning that I had a love-hate relationship with this track,” Greszczyszyn said. “The first couple of years I would be doing OK in selections, then come out here and fall back.”
Latvia’s Martins Dukurs won gold with a time of 1:44.31. His brother, Tomass, was second in 1:44.59. Sungbin Yun of South Korea took bronze in 1:45.24. Calgary’s Barrett Martineau was eighth. Martins Dukurs, the reigning world champion who has won 37 of the last 43 World Cup races, set a track record on his first run in 52.15 seconds to break Jon Montgomery’s mark from the 2010 Olympic final by 0.05 seconds. Dukurs settled for silver in that race and was second again at the 2014 Games in Russia.