Rush, Lumsden take gold in two-man bobsled; Montgomery sixth in skeleton
KOENIGSSEE, Germany - Canadians Lyndon Rush and Jesse Lumsden put together two consistent runs on Saturday to win World Cup gold in men's two-man bobsled.
Rush, of Humboldt, Sask., and Lumsden, of Burlington, Ont., beat the field by nearly one-half of a second with a two-run time of one minute 40.22 seconds down the 14-corner track.
"This is a short track so you expect the times to be close, but we had things set up really well this week," said Rush. "Jesse jarred his back loading in the first push so we said to each other the second run was going to be a 'hard hat run.' He dug deep and gave me everything he had to get it done today."
Rush and Lumsden had the last run in the final heat, allowing the duo to make adjustments as the two sleds in front of them smashed against the start wall.
"I loaded a little earlier on the second run to avoid any skidding. I hate slowing down on my second push more than anything, but I just wanted to make sure things were clean for Lyndon," said Lumsden. "It is the greatest feeling in the world to know that you have won. It is what motivates me and keeps me going.
"We have such a great crew on this team. There may be only two of us in the sled but the entire team helped us win today. We win as a team and there is nothing that beats celebrating a victory as a team."
The Canadians were joined on the podium by Latvia's Oskars Melbardis and Daumants Dreiskens in second at 1:40.60, while Germany's Francesco Friedrich and Gino Gerhardi slid to the bronze with a time of 1:40.72.
It was the second two-man victory, and fourth podium of the season for Team Rush, which has a stranglehold on the top spot in the overall World Cup standings.
"I think as a kid winning meant everything but as I get older I hate to lose," said Rush. "I just love executing. When I celebrate, before I even see the time, I love that feeling of just knowing you've executed well. We had that today.
"Things are going well and I am excited for the next couple of weeks leading to World Championships."
With coach Tom De-La-Hunty shuffling the teams as the circuit edges closer to the 2013 World Championships, two other newly formed Canadian sleds also hit the start line on Saturday.
Justin Kripps, of Summerland, B.C., teamed up with Rush's other brakeman — Calgary's Lascelles Brown — to place 10th at 1:41.18. Calgary's Chris Spring and Edmoton's Neville Wright were 11th with a time of 1:41.24.
Earlier in the day, Olympic champion Jon Montgomery was the top Canadian in the men's skeleton race. The Russell, Man. native clocked a sixth-place time of 1:43.22.
Eric Neilson, of Kelowna, B.C., also had a solid outing finishing eighth at 1:44.14. Calgary's Jon Fairbairn rounded out the Canadian contingent in 15th (1:44.76).
Martins Dukurs of Latvia won his sixth skeleton World Cup race of the season and closed in on his third straight season title. The reigning world champion won comfortably over runner-up Frank Rommel of Germany, who was 0.47 seconds back.
Alexander Tretyakov of Russia finished 0.70 seconds behind Dukrus to take third.
Dukurs holds a clear lead in overall rankings with 1,560 points, with brother Thomas second on 1,362 after finishing fifth. Alexander Kroeckel of Germany finished fourth and is third in overall after seven of the nine races with 1,308 points.
