Contact: Amanda Bird, USABS Marketing & Communications Director
(518) 354-2250, amanda.bird@usabs.com
Humphries and Gibbs finish fourth in Winterberg’s women’s bobsled World Cup
WINTERBERG, Germany (Jan. 4, 2020)– Kaillie Humphries (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Lauren Gibbs (Los Angeles, Calif.) narrowly missed the medals in this morning’s women’s bobsled World Cup race in Winterberg, finishing fourth behind three Germans on their home track.
“At the end of the day, fourth place is one of my better results on this track,” Humphries said. “I will take a fourth here any day, especially next to the Germans. It was close, and we’re reeling them in. We’re still putting the pieces of the puzzle together, but my driving was where I wanted it to be, and I’m really happy about that.”
In the 13 World Cup races Humphries has entered in Winterberg, she’s medaled in two. She won the 2012 competition, and was third in 2015. The last time Humphries raced in Winterberg was in 2017, when she finished fourth for Team Canada.
In today’s World Cup for Team USA, Humphries and Gibbs combined forces to power the Omaze-branded BMW sled off the start in 5.64 seconds for the fourth-best time of 57.61 seconds in the first heat. Humphries, a two-time Olympic champion, and Gibbs, an Olympic silver medalist, were eager to make up the 0.08 seconds between them and the Germans, who were in position to sweep the medals.
The duo again blasted off the start block in run two, but Humphries struggled loading into the sled. New to the American program, Humphries is still adjusting to the BMW sleds. Humphries threaded together a run of 58.29 seconds after a start time of 5.78, but their total of 1:55.90 was 0.31 seconds shy of the medals.
“Kaillie got caught up in the D-rings at the start, but she drove really well,” said USA Bobsled Head Coach Mike Kohn. “Her run was perfect, you can’t get much better than that. There’s some work to do at the start, but that will come.”
Stephanie Schneider and Kira Lipperheide were victorious with a combined time of 1:55.46, followed by reigning Olympic champions Mariama Jamanka and Annika Drazek in second with a 1:55.50. Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi completed the German sweep of the medals by claiming bronze with an aggregate time of 1:55.59.
“We knew this was going to be a challenge here,” Humphries said. “The Germans have this track and their sleds dialed in on this track. We’re still overcoming jetlag, but again, a fourth here is something I’m happy with.”
Racing continues today with the second four-man bobsled competition of the event at 1:30 p.m. local time. NBC Sports and Olympic Channel will have broadcast and digital streaming coverage. Fans can catch all the action in spectacular high definition via NBC Sports online at NBCSports.com/Live, or through the NBC Sports app. Additional coverage will be available on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel app. Learn more at https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/events/detail/2020-ibsf-world-cup-winterberg/.
Please contact USABS Marketing & Communications Director Amanda Bird at 518-354-2250, or amanda.bird@usabs.com, with media inquiries.
Results
1. Stephanie Schneider and Kira Lipperheide (GER) 1:55.46 (57.45, 58.01);
2. Mariama Jamanka and Annika Drazek (GER) 1:55.50 (57.53, 57.97);
3. Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi (GER) 1:55.59 (57.50, 58.09);
4. Kaillie Humphries and Lauren Gibbs (USA) 1:55.90 (57.61, 58.29);
About USA Bobsled & Skeleton
USA Bobsled & Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. USABS would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, Omaze, Kampgrounds of America, BiPro, Boomerang Carnets, Hudl, Tesa Tape, PVS International, Ferris Mfg. Corp, Machintek, deBotech and Carpenter. For more information, please visit the USABS website atwww.usabs.com.
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