Focus of the second World Cup round is on the female four-man pilots

The first of eight rounds of the Viessmann FIBT Bob & Skeleton World CupSeries 2014/2015 has been completed. Five athletes from four nations won their races in Lake Placid: Martins Dukurs (LAT, men’s skeleton), Francesco Friedrich (GER, two-manbobsleigh), Elana Meyers Taylor (USA, woman‘s bobsleigh) and Maximilian Arndt (GER, fourmanbobsleigh). However, skeleton winner Elizabeth Yarnold (GBR) will not be competing inthe second round of the World Cup. For health reasons, the Olympic Champion will not startthe race in Calgary.

Canada Olympic Park was the venue for all ice track sports at the 1988 Winter Olympics.Over a quarter of a century after the Calgary Winter Games, which did not feature thewomen’s bobsleigh and skeleton, World Cup points will now be awarded in five Olympicdisciplines.

Canadian athletes, in particular bobsleigh pilot Kaillie Humphries, will be the main focus ofattention for fans and the media during the second World Cup weekend of the post-Olympicswinter in Calgary. The Olympic Champion in two-woman bobsleigh in Vancouver 2010 andSochi 2014 intends to make history in front of her home fans as the first woman to pilot a fourmanbobsleigh at a World Cup.

In October, the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (FIBT) decided to open up thefour-man bobsleigh to female athletes. Kaillie Humphries and Elana Meyers Taylor (USA),silver medallist in the two-woman bobsleigh at the Olympics in Sochi, competed in four NorthAmerican Cup races in Park City (USA) and Calgary, and in the European Cup in La Plagne(FRA), in order to fulfil the FIBT World Cup criteria for the four-man bobsleigh (five FIBT raceson three different tracks).

There are some new faces in the Canadian skeleton team for their home World Cup. Five ofthe six athletes, Madison Charney, Lanette Prediger and Elisabeth Vathje among the ladies,and Greg Rafter and Barrett Martineau in the men’s event, are competing in their first seasonin the Viessmann FIBT World Cup. Elisabeth Vathje achieved the best debut in the first roundof the World Cup. The 20-year-old, who finished second in the 2014 Junior WorldChampionships, finished second in Lake Placid behind Olympic gold medallist ElizabethYarnold from the UK.

The male Canadian bobsleigh pilots are also hoping to finish on the podium in the ViessmannFIBT World Cup. Last year, Chris Spring und Jesse Lumsden took third in the two-manbobsleigh.''

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