Source : ABC NEWS
Bree Walker has continued her super start to the Winter Olympic season by winning gold in the IBSF monobob World Cup race in Lillehammer.
Walker set a track record of 53.86 seconds in the first run, beating her own record by more than a tenth of a second to become the first monobob driver to dip under 54 seconds for the 1,365 metre track.
Her top speed on course was a whopping 123.30 kilometres per hour.
It is Walker’s first win of the IBSF World Cup season and fourth of her career and continues her love affair with the Lillehammer track, where she has now won three years in a row.
“Yeah, I guess three in a row,” Walker said.
“I’m really happy with today’s drive. I think this is probably one of the best races I’ve been able to put together.”
Walker topped the timing charts on both of her two runs to take the win by 0.44 seconds, an absolute age in a sport where victory can be measured by hundredths of a second.
Bree Walker finished fourth in Innsbruck despite being hampered by a back injury. (AP Photo: Matthias Schrader)
“I love Lillehammer, we spend a lot of time here,” Walker said.
“To be able to walk away with the win — by that much too — is really crazy.
“The field is so strong this year, so I’m just stoked with that result.”
Walker’s victory moves her up to second in the overall monobob standings behind German legend Laura Nolte, where the Aussie has finished overall in the past two seasons.
The 33-year-old has recorded third and fourth place finishes in the opening two rounds of the season, missing out on a medal last time out in Innsbruck by just 0.02 seconds despite dealing with a back injury.
“I’m really happy with my driving, it’s been very consistent this year, and my pushing has been going really well,” Walker said.
“In my last race, I actually hurt my back in the first heat, so I couldn’t really finish it off in the second.
“But we did some really good rehab and prep over the last two weeks, so, yeah, super happy with today’s race.”
It is enough to put a smile on anyone’s face just 54 days out from the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, even Canadian coach Pierra Lueders.
“Did he smile?” Walker asked, laughing.
“That’s funny. Yeah, if the coach is happy, then I’m definitely happy.”
Walker will compete in the two-woman bobsleigh event on the same track alongside brakewoman Kiara Reddingius on Sunday.
Walker and Reddingius have finished 18th in both their previous two World Cup races this season.
The World Cup circuit next heads to Latvia’s Sigulda track for the final World Cup before Christmas, with events in Winterberg, St Mortiz and Altenberg to come before the Winter Olympics in Italy in February.
Double bronze for Aussie snowboard cross racers
Josie Baff earned bronze in the first FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup event of the season. (Getty Images: NurPhoto/Tommaso Berardi)
There was double success for Australia at the opening FIS Snowboard cross event in Cervinia, with Adam Lambert and Josie Baff both winning bronze medals.
Baff, who laid down the second-fastest time in qualifying, went out hard in each of her knockout heats with great success.
However, a minor mistake on the first turn dragged the 22-year-old Aussie back into the pack, where some incredibly tight racing saw her pipped to silver by Italian rider Michela Moioli.
“Over the heats I was pretty fast out of the start and that was my plan, I went away from the start and defended the whole way down. I felt I was doing that really well,” Baff said.
“I made a mistake in the big final where I folded in turn one, and my plan had to change and adapt.
“That was super-tight racing. Then we came out of the second-last turn and all four of us were together, boards were hitting boards, and it was pretty crazy actually.
“But I’m super-happy to have a podium for the first race of the season.“
Mia Clift (13th) went out at the quarterfinal stage, while Amber Essex (24th) and Abbey Wilson (DNF) were unable to progress past qualifying.
In the men’s race, Lambert also claimed the final spot on the podium as French brothers Jonas and Aidan Chollet fought for gold.
“I knew I was going to get out fourth or third, because those two Chollet brothers are fast as,” Lambert said.
“But I had a plan, I had a line that I’d been running all day and I knew it was fast.
“Unfortunately I came up a bit too fast on them in turn five and I couldn’t get in the draft, but I’m so stoked with third.”
Cameron Bolton (14th) went out at the quarterfinal stage of racing, while James Johnstone (47th), Declan Dent (48th) and Cameron Turner (52nd) did not progress past qualifying.
