Germany Lead Overnight In Women’s Bobsleigh

Neil Simmons
Feb 20, 2018
3 min read

Heat 2, run in reverse order did not throw up any major surprises at the bottom of the order. Nigeria in their first Olympics remained in the final spot with the Austrian pairing of Katrin Beierl ahead. Jamaica, who are also in their first Olympics as a women’s team, sat two places abover the Nigerians and when spoken to Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian commented that although she was proud of their performance she was a little disappointed by the time in heat two, which was slower than their first run.

Christina Hengster put the Austrian sled top of the pack and it was time for some of the big names to put their times on the board. Maria Constantin was unable to shift Hengster off the top and Elfje Willemsen was just under two tenths slower than the Austrians. The OAR pairing of Sergeeva and Kocherzhova were also unable to shift Hengster and Kleiser, but next up it was the Canadian sled of Christine de Bruin and Melissa Lotholz.

They made a great start and were ahead of the Austrians coming down the circuit and crossed the line in 50.91 to move into the lead.

There was much expectation that Sabina Hafner, piloting the Swiss sled, would improve and move ahead. This went to the script as Hafner was leading through the top of the course but began to lose speed and when crossing the line finished in 51.16 to keep de Bruin in the lead.

Alysia Rissling was next up and the times were getting quicker. She and Heather Moyes made a blistering start and kept the pressure on all the way down the track to cross the line in 50.95 and take the lead.

Much has been said about the efforst of Mica McNeill and Mica Moore to get themselves to the Olympics and after their first run they had put on a good showing. They did not start well, but then this is not their strong point. The gap began to grow but as the sled ate up the course the gap began to tumble and they crossed the line in 50.95 to put them in top spot and guaranteed of at least being 6th overnight.

Kaillie Humphries was next and the Canadian crowd sat nervously hoping that she would be able to put in the performance which could put pressure on Elana Meyers-Taylor. She was immediately three tenths up on the start but as the sled moved down the course she began to lose time, like the first run and this whittled down to just being a tenth quicker. She crossed the line in 50.88 and had to wait as the next four pairs mustered at the top.

Stephanie Schneider was hoping to make in-roads on the times and she made an absolutely stunning start and managed to give a smooth run down to the finish line with a 50.93 time to keep her ahead of Humphries.

The American pairing of Jamie Greubel-Poser and Aja Evans stared at the tube of ice in front of them and pushed off aggressively. They were immediately 7/100ths off the lead and made a slightly slower start than before. They would cross the line in 50.99 which meant that Schneider moved above them in the timings.

Mariama Jamanka and Lisa Buckwitz were next up but made a slow start, a few bumps were misguiding as they glided across the line three tenth’s ahead of Greubel-Poser and taking the top spot.

The leader after Heat 1, Elana Meyers-Taylor, was next and all eyes were on what she could produce. The start was phenomenal as she and Lauren Gibbs set another start record with 5.21 seconds. She made a mistake at turn 2, the sled tapped the wall and then slid through turn 3 which lost her the advantage she gained at the beginning. The American pair crossed the line in 50.81 which put them second overall.

After the second set of heats it is Mariama Jamanka and Lisa Buckwitz who top the leaderboard overnight to put pressure on the chasing pack.

Heat 3 tomorrow – This is going to be a superb battle to the medals.

TOP TEN – AFTER HEAT 2

1st – Germany (Jamanka) – 1;41.26

2nd – USA (Meyers-Taylor) – 1:41.33

3rd – Germany (Schneider) – 1:41.56

4th – USA (Greubel-Poser) – 1:41.58

5th – Canada (Humphries) – 1:41.60

6th – Great Britain (McNeill) – 1:41.72

7th – Canada (Rissling) – 1:41.76

8th – Canada (De Bruin) – 1:41.85

9th – Switzerland (Hafner) – 1:42.02