BREE WALKER
Olympic Winter Games Attended
BIOGRAPHY
Bree Walker commenced bobsleigh after a successful career as a hurdler in Athletics.
Walker season started off the 2018-2019 season with victories in both of the inaugural monobob races in Lillehammer, Norway, in November 2018 and then placed second at the third race for the season in Konigsee, Germany. Monobob is a new addition to the Olympic Programme for Beijing 2022. Walker spent the majority of the northern hemisphere winter based in Europe. Alongside brakewoman Jamie Scroop, the pair competed in their first ever bobsleigh World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria, in January 2019, placing 13th. In 2019-2020, Walker again had impressive results in monobob, with victory in Winterberg, Germany, and double gold in La Plagne, France. Walker made her World Championship bobsleigh debut in Altenberg, Germany, finishing in 14th place with brakewoman Stefanie Fernandez. Walker continued her exciting form into the 2020-2021 season, taking home three medals in the monobob, and finished the season in second place on the IBSF end of year rankings. In the two-woman bobsleigh, Walker and brakewoman Sarah Blizzard had a personal best World Cup finish of eighth place in Innsbruck, Austria, which was one of four top-10 World Cup bobsleigh finishes. The 2021-2022 season again saw Walker claim a number of medals in IBSF Monobob World Series events, with an impressive five medal haul, highlighted by a victory in Winterberg, Germany. Walker's best results in the two-woman bobsleigh came with brakewoman Kiara Reddingius, with the pair finishing in seventh place in their first ever start together in Winterberg. Walker was selected to make her Olympic debut at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing in the bobsleigh and monobob disciplines. In the monobob, Walker recorded Australia's best ever Olympic bobsleigh result, as she jumped up the leaderboard to finish fifth after a pulsating final day of racing. After day one of the two day competition, Walker was sitting tenth after her first run and seventh after her second, On day two, Walker came out firing to put down the second fastest times in both runs three and four to jump into fifth overall. Walker was joined by brakewoman Kiara Reddingius in the two-woman bobsleigh, where they placed 16th. Competing in her first World Cup events of the 2022-2023 season, Walker made an impressive start with top-five finishes in both the monobob and two-woman events in Winterberg, Germany. Whilst the World Cup tour commenced in North America, Walker had elected to base herself in Europe to start her Northern Winter campaign, competing on the European Cup circuit, winning gold in her three event starts. Joining Walker in the two-woman was brakewoman Sarah Blizzard, who has also been focusing on monobob racing to start the northern winter, with the pair having limited time in the sled together ahead of this week's World Cup competition. The pair made a great start with the fifth fastest time on the Winterberg track, just 0.63 seconds behind first place. In the second run they had the ninth fastest time, just .02 seconds off their first run time, with a time run time of 1:55.04, 1.30 seconds behind first place in fifth overall, two places better than Walker's previous best result of seventh with brakewoman Kiara Reddingius on the same track in November 2021. At the difficult Altenberg track, Walker took home her first monobob World Cup podium of the season in Germany.The QAS athlete had two consistent runs, finishing the first run in third place with a time of 1:00.92 seconds. Walker created history recording Australia's best ever sliding sports performance at an IBSF World Championships, narrowly missing the podium in fourth place in the monobob event in St Moritz, Switzerland. Competing on the spectacular hand cut ice on the natural St Moritz track, the QAS athlete put down four great runs to finish just two tenths of a second shy of the podium. The combined total time for Walker's four runs was 4:45.77, which had her finish 0.92 seconds behind event winner Laura Nolte of Germany, with American Kaillie Humphries in second and Lisa Buckwitz of Germany in third. Walker continued her success on the Igls track in Innsbruck, Austria, with a silver medal performance at her final IBSF World Cup monobob event of the season. The podium performance was her second for the season at the World Cup level, and the fifth time Walker has medalled on the Igls track. Walker made a strong start recording the third fastest time in the opening run in 54.71 seconds. In the second and final run, the 2022 Olympian improved to finish with a time of 54.68 seconds which was the second fastest of the round. In March, Walker headed to North America for the first time in years, heading to the Lake Placid in America for a training camp on the former Olympic track, and also to compete in two North American Cup monobob events. On the first day of competition, Walker took home the gold medal, finishing ahead of 2023 World Champion Laura Nolte of Germany, with her teammate and 2018 Olympic gold medallist Lisa Buckwitz in third. On day two, the top-two places on the podium were reversed, with Nolte taking the win ahead of Walker, and Buckwitz again in third. With Walker likely to be back competing in the North American World Cup events next season, and Lake Placid hosting the 2025 World Championships, the podium results will give her great confidence for the future. Q & A
Proudest moment:
I am my top three. 1. Winning my first senior State race in 400m Hurdle after deciding to switch from 400m to 400m hurdles in the same season. 2. Receiving a full Track and Field scholarship to a D1 college in the States (a dream I've had since i started high school). 3. Winning my first medal in my bobsleigh career; double gold in the first ever monobob races in Lillehammer. I began my sport in: 2016 in Whistler, Canada. When I am not training or competing I am: Drinking coffee and having breakfast with friends (typical Melbourne girl), studying and working as a personal trainer/schools coach I enjoy my sport because ... I love the adrenaline rush of of sliding down a mountain over 100km/h. I love driving a bobsled so much and training for the push start with my team. Working as part of a team is the best and there is no better feeling of getting a great result together. Education: Studying Physical education Teaching at Deakin University Favourite international competition: World Junior Championships in St Mortiz 2017/18 and MonoBob race in Lillehammer 2018 Favourite Food: Pancakes Favourite Music: Anything RNB or Beyonce Favourite other sport to watch or play: Track and Field, AFL, Rugby, touch footy Childhood Ambition: To compete at the Olympics (i wanted to be Cathy Freeman) My Hero is ... Tom Kelly (my old athletics coach), Cathy Freeman Sponsors: OWIA, Rain City Industries, Sportsmanagement Steinbach, Steinbach Immobiliengruppe, TGT Haustechnik Meiningen, Beschriftungsteam, Nexx North America, Quixskinz LINKS |
INDIVIDUAL ATHLETES
INDIVIDUAL ATHLETES |
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