Humphries finds a silver lining
Canadian pilot and Lotholz ‘satisfied’ with second at world bobsled championships
CALGARY — Kaillie Humphries heard the whispers. She knew people wondered if an off year — at least by her lofty standards — pointed to an early demise for Canada’s top female bobsled pilot.
The two-time Olympic champion officially quashed those rumours Saturday by winning silver with brakeman Melissa Lotholz at the 2016 world bobsled championships.
After collecting four Cup medals in 2014-15 — and not a single gold — the Canadian duo has graced the podium at all seven World Cups this season and now the world championships in Igls, Austria.
“I’m not going to lie, I like being on top of the podium, but at the end of the day I’m pretty happy with the way we performed the last two days,” said the 30-year-old Humphries, who retired her old sled last summer in favour of a new model called Oh Holy Night.
“We did everything we could and followed everything that was planned heading into the race, so it is a good feeling knowing we left it all out there. We have to be extremely happy with the silver medal knowing there was nothing more we could do on the day.”
Humphries, of Calgary, and Lotholz, of Barrhead, Alta., woke up Saturday morning sitting in second place — a full 0.31 seconds back of Germany’s Anja Schneiderheinze and just 0.02 seconds ahead of American Elana Meyers Taylor.
Three tenths of a second is a huge margin in bobsled, but Humphries wasn’t about to quit without a battle.
“We had some work to do. But anything is possible at any given point.”
For Humphries, bobsled revolves around a four-year cycle culminating at the Olympics. She sees every race — including the world championship — as a tune-up for the main event at the five-ring circus.
Her game plan calls for turning Saturday’s silver into gold come the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“There’s definitely room to improve, which is very exciting,” Humphries said. “We know, in the next couple of years, there’s room for us to be back on top. So we’ll take those steps.
“But overall, this is a big improvement and a big accomplishment for us as a team.”
A year ago, Humphries and Lotholz finished seventh at the world championships.
“Looking back on this season, with one more race to go, it is almost overwhelming to see how far we’ve come,” said Lotholz, a sophomore on the World Cup circuit. “This is Year Two of a four-year cycle, with the ultimate goal to be on top of the podium at the Games in 2018. Last year, we had three podiums together and now we have been on the podium in eighth straight races, so this year has been affirming for me.”
Schneiderheinze and Annika Drazek won their first world championship in four-run time of three minutes, 32.38 seconds. Humphries and Lotholz stopped the clock at 3:32.71 to lock up silver. Meyers Taylor and Lauren Gibbs of the U.S. teamed up to claim the bronze medal with a time of 3:32.87.
Two other Canadian women’s sleds made their world championship debut in Igls. Alysia Rissling (Calgary) and Julia Corrente (Chatham, Ont.) slid to 13th spot at 3:35.31. Ontario’s Christine DeBruin and Cynthia Appiah were 16th (3:35.66).
Earlier in the day, Chris Spring and Lascelles Brown of Calgary came in fifth through two runs of the men’s two-man bobsled race. Justin Kripps of Summerland and Alex Kopacz, of London, Ont., are in ninth spot.
The final two runs are scheduled for Sunday.
NOTES: Long-track speedskater Alexandre St-Jean of Quebec City finished a career-best sixth in the 1,000-metre race at the world single distance championships in Kolomna, Russia. Vincent De Haitre of Cumberland, Ont. was eighth and Richard MacLennan of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. was 21st. … Ted-Jan Bloemen of Calgary crossed the line in fifth in the men’s 5,000-metre race. … Heather McLean of Winnipeg came in ninth in the women’s 500 metres. Marsha Hudey of White City, Sask. was 16th while Shannon Rempel of Winnipeg placed 23rd. In the women’s team pursuit, Ivanie Blondin of Ottawa, Josie Spence of Kamloops and Brianne Tutt of Airdrie, Alta. finished sixth. … Chris Del Bosco of Montreal and Marielle Thompson of Whistler claimed silver Saturday in World Cup ski cross action in Idre Fjall, Sweden. … Richard Weinberger of Surrey and Stephanie Horner of Beaconsfield, Que. were sixth and seventh in their respective 10-kilometre races Saturday at the Australian Open Water Swimming Championships.