Humphries and Lotholz slide to World Cup silver in Igls
Kaillie Humphries slid her way back onto a World Cup podium, winning silver on Saturday with Melissa Lotholz in Igls, Austria.
After finishing fourth last weekend in Konigssee, Germany, Humphries earned her fifth podium finish in seven World Cup races this season thanks to a two-run total time of 1 minute 46.39 seconds. The Canadians found themselves sandwiched between a pair of American sleds, as Elana Meyers Taylor and Lolo Jones won the gold by a quarter a second while Jamie Greubel Poser and Aja Evans were 0.14 of a second behind.
Canada’s second placed Melissa Lotholz, from left to right, Kaillie Humphries, the winners Elana Meyers Taylor and Lolo Jones of the United States and third placed Jamie Greubel Poser and Aja Evans of the Unites States celebrate after the women’s two-man bobsled World Cup race in Igls, near Innsbruck, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson)
Humphries’ last three podium finishes have come with Lotholz as her brakeman. They previously won gold in Altenberg and silver in St. Moritz. Earlier in the year, Cynthia Appiah pushed the two-time Olympic champion to two podium placements.
With 1446 points, Humphries holds the lead in the overall World Cup standings by just 27 points over Greubel Poser. Meyers Taylor stands third with 1320 points. There remains just one more World Cup stop on the schedule, which happens to be the Olympic test event at the Alpensia Sliding Centre in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Canada’s Kaillie Humphries and Melissa Lotholz speed down the track during the first run of the women’s two-man bobsled World Cup race in Igls, near Innsbruck, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson)
But before that takes place in mid-March, the bobsledders will race at the world championships in Konigssee, which begin on February 17. Humphries won silver last year when the worlds were held on the Igls track. That was her fourth career world championship medal, having won bronze the last time the worlds were in Konigssee in 2011 as well as back-to-back world titles in 2012 and 2013.
