Kaillie nails 7th world title
HUMPHRIES: Wins not about home-field advantage
Taking a rare break from driving, Kaillie Humphries tried to recharge Sunday in the back seat of a car cruising to La Plaine, France, from Winterberg, Germany.
“There is no speed limit on the Autobahn,” the Canadian Olympian said via cellphone. “That’s the glory of it.”
Limits of any kind, just don’t seem to apply to Humphries these days, especially when it comes to her job as the pilot of the Canada-1 women’s bobsled.
In a spectacular display of consistency, the Calgarian reeled off her seventh straight world title — dating back to last season — on Saturday in Winterberg, Germany.
With raw rookie Chelsea Valois pushing the sled, Humphries roared down the track in combined time of 1:54.05 over two runs.
The American duo of Elana Meyers and Katie Eberling finished just one 10th of a second back with a combined time of 1:54.15.
For Humphries, six World Cup gold medals sandwich a victory at the 2012 world championships at Lake Placid.
Talk about dominance. Talk about having a target on your back.
Talk about a perfect way to set up the quest to become the first woman to ever win back to-back Olympic gold medals in women’s bobsled.
“I’m confident in this position,” said Humphries, who is becoming accustomed to life as the favourite. “I know I can handle the pressure.
“I’ve been in a lot of similar scenarios. It just seems to happen one thing after another. I feel I can handle almost anything.”
That’s the sound of confidence talking from one of Canada’s most dominant women in any sport. By rights, Humphries should be included in any discussion on Canada’s female athlete of the year (although that honour will almost certainly go to Canadian soccer star Christine Sinclair for her incredible display at the London Olympics.)
Consider the fact Humphries has reeled off seven straight victories at the highest level of her sport with three different women pushing her sled: Jennifer Ciochetti, Emily Baadsvik, and, most recently, Valois.
A product of Zenon Park, Sask., Valois came to Calgary in August to try out the sport. The former University of Regina track athlete instantly started pushing world-class times — much to the amazement of everyone in attendance.
Not even four months into her bobsled career, Valois, 25, has a perfect record of 4-0 on the World Cup circuit.
“I’m shocked every week,” Valois said. “But I’m not really surprised, because I have total faith in Kaillie. As long as I can do my job, I know we’ll do well.”
Truth be told, Humphries doubted herself, just a little, before heading to Winterberg to open the European segment of the World Cup circuit. Home-field advantage is paramount in bobsled, perhaps even more than in hockey, due to track familiarity.
Humphries learned to drive at pilot school in Lake Placid, won Olympic gold on the track in Whistler and grew up on the ice at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. For the Canadians, tracks in Europe represent the relative unknown.
“It’s nice to know ... it’s not just because I know the home track,” Humphries said. “I can do it even here in Europe as well. To be able to keep that going, it feels awesome.”
Finally, she can trash the idea that geography is behind her winning streak.
“Sometimes, it plays in your head a little bit,” she said. “You get to thinking, it’s just North America because I know the tracks. But this actually proves that it’s everything we’ve put into it. It’s all the hard work. Everything is paying off. The sleds are running brilliantly. I’m loving the Eurotech sleds. Everything is working.”
Notes: Ciochetti and Calgary’s Kate O’Brien finished 12th Saturday in the Canada-2 sled. In the men’s two-man, Lyndon Rush, of Sylvan Lake, and Jesse Lumsden, of Burlington, Ont. won bronze. Chris Spring, of Calgary, and Ben Coakwell, of Saskatoon, placed 10th. Justin Kripps, of Summerland, B.C. and Hamilton Tiger-Cat Sam Giguere finished 12th