Jamie Greubel Poser and Aja Evans competes at the BMW IBSF World Cup on Jan. 27, 2017 in Koenigssee, Germany.
Olympic bronze medalists Jamie Greubel Poser and Aja Evans got back to their winning ways with a second-place finish in women’s bobsled at the IBSF World Cup in Altenberg, Germany, on Saturday.
The American duo finished in 1:53.31 to take the silver medal, just 0.69 seconds behind Canadian gold medalists Kaillie Humphries and Phylicia George at 1:52.62. Germany’s Anna Koehler and Annika Drazek took bronze in 1:53.52.
It’s the second world cup silver medal of the season for Greubel Poser, a native of Newtown, Pennsylvania, and Evans, who is from Chicago. They placed second at the world cup in Whistler, Canada, on Nov. 25. Greubel Poser also won gold, pushed by Lauren Gibbs, in Park City, Utah, on Nov. 18. Those two consecutive medals were followed by two disappointing sixth-place finishes before the midseason break.
The Team USA pair, ranked No. 1 in the world cup standings last season, won bronze in the 2017 world championships in Koenigssee, Germany, as well as bronze at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014.
The 34-year-old Greubel Poser piloted Evans, 29, to the second-fastest time in each heat. They clocked in at 56.22 in the first heat, and 0.44 seconds behind Humphries and George, who set the fastest time in both. The Team USA tandem finished in 56.44 in the second heat. Humphries has three world cup wins this season.
Greubel Poser and Evans posted a world cup victory last season on March 18 at the test event for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 when they bested fellow USA athletes and Olympians Elana Meyers Taylor and Lolo Jones. Jones competed as a track and field athlete at the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 and London 2012, and in bobsled at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014.
Team USA can send a maximum of three teams to PyeongChang based on a number of factors, including the IBSF ranking list, which is scheduled to be published on Jan. 14.
Gary R. Blockus is a journalist from Allentown, Pennsylvania who has covered multiple Olympic Games. He is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
