Mixed doubles curling pair Tahli Gill (QAS) and Dean Hewitt (VIS) have continued their strong form to start the year, finishing equal third at the Mixed Doubles Super Series event in Fredericton, Canada.
 
The 2022 Olympians were drawn in Pool D for the round robin matches, posting a record of three wins and one loss, advancing to the playoffs in second place.
 
In the quarter finals, the pair defeated Polish team Walczak and Augustyniak 8 to 6.
 
Gill and Hewitt then faced Roenning/Braenden of Norway in the semi-final, but were unable to advance to the final in a score of 5 to 3.
 
The final was won by Estonian pair Kaldvee and Lill who defeated the Norewigian Roenning/Braenden team 6 to 5.
 
Tahli Gill commented after the event.
 
“We’re thrilled to share that we finished equal third at the Mixed Doubles Super Series curling event in Fredericton this past weekend.
 
“While we didn't take home the top prize, we're proud of our performance and the progress we’ve made. We faced some tough opponents, but we kept our focus and stayed determined. Up next is our European Tour!”
 
Pool D Games
First Match – Defeated by Matsumura/Tanida (Japan) 5 to 7
Second Match – Defeated Smith/Mosher (Canada) 8 to 2
Third Match – Defeated Watson/Beland (Canada) 10 to 1
Fourth Match – Defeated Parmiter/Burgess (Canada) 8 to 1

Finals
Quarter Final – Defeated Walczak/Augustyniak (Poland) 8 to 6
Semi Final – Defeated by Roenning/Braenden (Norway) 5 to 3

Alex Ferlazzo has finished in the top-15 for the second straight week, placing 14th at the World Cup event in Oberhof, Germany.
 
The three-time Olympian qualified for the World Cup after a second place podium performance in the Nation’s Cup qualifier event.
 
In the first run of the World Cup event, the QAS slider opened with the eighth fastest time of the round in 43.292 seconds.

In the final run, Ferlazzo unfortunately moved back in the standings in a time of 43.741 seconds, the 19th fastest time of the round.

Ferlazzo finished with a two-run time of 1:27.033 seconds and a final ranking of 14th.

German Max Langenhan emerged victorious in a two-run time of 1:25.895, 1.138 seconds ahead of Ferlazzo.

Ferlazzo will now go to Canada for the World Championships on the 2010 Olympic track in Whistler on February 8.

IMAGE
Two thumbs up from Alex Ferlazzo for his Nations Cup podium
© International Luge Federation

Australian cross-country skiers have competed in the World Cup event in the Engadin region in Switzerland.
 
In the women’s individual events Rosie Fordham was the leading Australian finisher in 49th (Women’s 20km Mass Start Free) and 51st (Women’s Sprint Free).
 
Hugo Hinckfuss was the highest placed Australian male finishing 54th in the sprint event, and Seve De Campo was 63rd in the 20km Mass Start Free.
 
Australia also competed in the Mixed 4 x 5km Relay Classic/Free, with the team featuring Rosie Fordham, Tuva Bygrave, Seve DeCampo and Hugo Hinckfuss, finishing  17th.
 
Results

Mixed 4 x 5km Relay Classic/Free
Australia 17th

Women’s Sprint Free
Rosie Fordham 51st
Phoebe Cridland 56th
Tuva Bygrave 57th

Men’s Sprint Free
Hugo Hinckfuss 54th
Lars Young Vik 64th
Phillip Bellingham 72nd
Seve De Campo 75th

Women’s 20km Mass Start Free
Rosie Fordham 49th
Tuva Bygrave 59th
 
Men’s 20km Mass Start Free
Seve De Campo 63rd
Lars Young Vik 67th
Phillip Bellingham 70th
Hugo Hinckfuss 73rd

QAS bobsleigh pilot Bree Walker has claimed her third World Cup podium result of the season and tenth of her career, with a silver medal performance in the monobob World Cup event on the iconic hand cut ice St Moritz track in Switzerland.
 
In the first of two World Cup events in St Moritz, the 2022 Olympian made the perfect start, having the second fastest opening run time of 1:11.28 seconds.
 
Walker then went faster in the final run, breaking the track record in a time of 1:10.48 seconds to put her in first place with one competitor left. Her combined two run time was 2:21.76 seconds.
 
First run leader Elana Meyers Taylor from America then broke Walker’s record in the last run of the day to take victory in a combined time of 2:21.52, 0.24 seconds ahead of Walker. Rounding out the podium in third was another USA athlete, Kaysha Love, a further 0.31 seconds behind Walker.
 
“Super happy with my runs today, it’s really come along the last few weeks” said the 32-year-old from Queensland.
 
“This track has been a bit of a challenge for me in the past, but my coach Pierre Lueders has taught me all his ways over the past few years, and I am just so stoked with the result today. The goal was to drive the best that I can, and it’s paid off, so I am really happy with how I executed.
 
“Plan for tomorrow is to go again and do the same, tidy up a few little things that I noticed today, and then gear up for the two-woman with brakewoman Kiara Reddingius on Sunday.”
 
“I am so grateful to have so much support from all around the world, so thankyou to our supporters and sponsors for everything you have done for us.
 
St Moritz Monobob Day Two
 
In the second monobob World Cup, Walker finished in eighth place, in a two-run time of 2:22.83 seconds, 0.68 behind back-to-back winner in St Moritz Elana Meyers Taylor of the USA.
 
Sarah Blizzard also competed in St Mortiz, the QAS pilot was in 24th place on day one and improved to finish 21st on day two.
 
After six events Walker is third on the monobob World Cup standings on 1146 points, trailing German’s Lisa Buckwitz on 1253 and Laura Nolte 1171.
 
A two-woman World Cup event was also scheduled to take place in St Moritz, but was cancelled due to warm weather, after temperatures did not reach the necessary below zero margin overnight for the natural ice track to freeze.

QAS bobsleigh pilot has finished in fourth place in the World Cup monobob event on the Igls track at Innsbruck, Austria, missing the podium by just 0.18 seconds.
 
The 2022 Olympian had the third fastest opening run in 54.27 seconds, and in the second run had the fourth best time in 54.42.
 
Her two-tun combined time was 1:48.69, putting Walker 0.28 seconds behind event winner Lisa Buckwitz of Germany, American Kaysha Love was second and German Laura Nolte third.
 
Fellow QAS pilot Sarah Blizzard finished 23rd.
 
After four monobob World Cup events this season, Walker is ranked third on the standings, and Blizzard is in 17th.
 
A two-woman event also took place in Innsbruck, with Walker teaming up with brakewoman Kiara Reddingius, finishing in 11th place. Sarah Blizzard and brakewoman Ashleigh Werner were 21st.
 
Germany clean swept the two-woman podium with Laura Nolte/Deborah Levi first, Kim Kalicki/Leonie Fiebig second, and Lisa Buckwitz/Neele Schuten third.
 
After the race Walker commented.
 
“Always love sliding in Igls, very tight racing and no room for errors which makes for an exciting weekend.”
 
“Of course I would have loved to finish on the podium in the monobob, but it didn’t quite come together in the last run so had to settle for fourth.
 
“The two-man didn’t really come together either. Still learning our new sled and trying new things. Sometimes it pays off and sometimes you learn, so we will take the learnings and apply it for the coming races.”
 
The IBSF tour is returning back to St Moritz, Switzerland, for a second time in as many weeks, with three events taking place on the historic handcut ice Cresta Run. The first monobob race will run on January 24, a second monobob on January 25 and the two-woman on January 26.

Three-time Australian Olympian Alex Ferlazzo has had his best performance of the season at the World Cup event in Winterberg, Germany, finishing in 12th place.
 
Ferlazzo started strongly in Winterbrg finishing third in the Nations Cup qualifying even for the second straight week.
 
In the first run of the World Cup event, the QAS slider opened with a time of 51.501 seconds which was the 17th fastest of the round.
 
In the final run, Ferlazzo improved to have the 12th fastest run of the round in 51.531 seconds.
 
Ferlazzo finished with a two-run time of 1:43.032 seconds and a final ranking of 12th.
 
Austrian Jonas Mueller emerged victorious in a two-run time of 1:41.742, 1.29 seconds ahead of Ferlazzo.
 
The luge tour will remain in Germany for another week, competing in Oberhof on January 26.

2022 Olympians Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt have started the year strongly, recording victory in the Jamaica Cup event held at the Dundas Valley Golf and Curling Club in Ontario, Canada.
 
The field features teams from Australia, Canada, Jamaica, Mexico and the USA, with Gill and Hewitt going through the tournament undefeated, winning the gold medal match against Canadian pair Lauren Wasylkiw and Shane Konings nine points to five.
 
Pool C Games
First Match – Defeated Feldkamp/Villard (Canada) 8 to 3
Second Match – Defeated Roach/Gilbert (Canada) 4 to 2
Third Match – Defeated Humphries/Maves (Canada) 9 to 3

Finals
Quarter Final – Defeated Sandham/Craig (Canada) 6 to 2
Semi Final – Defeated Smith/Thompson (Canada) 5 to 4
Final – Defeated Wasylkiw/Konings (Canada) 9 to 5

2022 Olympians Bree Walker and Kiarra Reddingius have finished in eighth place in the two-woman event on the historic St Moritz hand cut ice track in Switzerland.
 
Warm weather impacted the week, forcing the monobob to be rescheduled for later in January, leaving the female athletes to only contest the two-woman event in St Moritz.
 
In the first run, the pair were looking at a top-five run, but Walker’s helmet visor unfortunately fogged up as the run went on making driving difficult, finishing with the tenth fastest time in 1:09.66 seconds.  
 
Walker and Reddingius improved in the second run, recording the eighth fastest time in 1:08.69 seconds, which moved them up into eighth on the final rankings in a two-run combined time of 2:18.35 seconds.
 
“In the first run I couldn’t see most of the way down, so couldn’t do much more than feel my way down the track“ said the QAS bobsleigh pilot.
 
“The second run was much better, so a solid result after a very interrupted week of training.”

Fellow QAS pilot Sarah Blizzard and brakewoman Hayley Silvester just missed the cut for the second run placing 23rd after a run one time of 1.11.69. 
 
The IBSF World Cup tour now heads to Innsbruck Austria, where Walker, Reddingius and Blizzard will compete in the monobob on January 18 and two-woman on January 19.

Three-time Olympian Alex Ferlazzo has come close to securing his first top-10 of the World Cup season, but a crash late in his second run spectacularly ended his chances of a result in Altenberg, Germany.
 
The QAS slider made a great start on one of his favourite tracks where he finished an incredible fifth at last year’s World Championships, by placing third in the Nations Cup event, which doubles as a qualifier for the main World Cup.
 
In the World Cup, Ferlazzo had the eighth fastest first run in a time of 54.687 seconds, his highest placed first run position of the season so far.
 
In the second run, Ferlazzo was set for an even faster time, but a crash towards the end of the run, brought him to a complete stop just before the finish line, and recording a did not finish.
 
Before Ferlazzo fell, he was set for the sixth fastest time of the run and a potential top-eight personal best World Cup finish.
 
“Buzzing to be back on the podium in Nations Cup” said the 29-year-old from Townsville in Queensland.
 
“We changed things up in the sled and it feels right again. Thankfully the speed has returned with that change and it’s time to fine tune and get comfortable.
 
“Didn’t quite make it over the finish line in the World Cup but the timesheet doesn’t lie, and the speed is definitely back. Excited to take it elsewhere.”
 
Next weekend Ferlazzo will head to Winterberg, Germany, for a World Cup race on January 19.

Bree Walker has claimed Australia’s first winter sports World Cup medal of 2025, with a bronze medal performance in the World Cup monobob event in Winterberg, Germany, in a spectacular day of competition which saw a number of track records fall in the final run.
 
The podium finish is the second straight for the QAS bobsleigh pilot, and the ninth of her World Cup career.
 
Walker was third after the first run with a time of 58.67 seconds, then was faster in the second run, momentarily holding the track record in a time of 58.44 seconds. and a two-run combined time of 1:57.11 seconds.
 
The final two athletes also broke the track record, German Lisa Buckwitz won with a combined time of 1:56.83, 0.28 seconds ahead of Walker while Swiss pilot Melanie Hasler of Switzerland finished second in 1:56.92.
 
“I’m super happy with the result here in Winterberg, I love sliding here, it’s actually my first podium here since the 2022 Olympic season” said the 32-year-old from Queensland.
 
“Really happy with my drives today, the first corner is cut a little bit differently this year so it makes it tricky and slipped me up a little bit, but I can’t be happier, my pushing is coming along really nicely and my drives were solid, so all-in-all a good day.
 
“The track was in good condition, and it’s really cold here, so that is perfect conditions for track records to be broken. It makes for fun racing when you know the record is being broken again-and-again, you know you’re up for a fast run.
 
“I’m looking forward to my first World Cup two-woman event of the season tomorrow with Kiara Reddingius in our new sled.”
 
Also in action for Australia was Sarah Blizzard in 22nd place.
 
After three World Cup monobob events this season, Walker is ranked third on the standings on 584 points, trailing German duo Lisa Buckwitz in first on 660 and Laura Nolte second with 619.

Alex Ferlazzo has started the new year with a 17th place finish at the World Cup event in Sigulda, Latvia.
 
The three-time Olympian advanced to the World Cup via the Nations Cup pre event, where he finished fifth from 30 starters.
 
In the World Cup, the QAS slider was the first starter for run one, and made a strong start to have the 14th fastest time in 48.195 seconds.
 
In the second run, Ferlazzo had a few mistakes and finished in a time of 48.457 seconds which was the 19th fastest of the round.
 
Ferlazzo finished with a two-run time of 1:36.652 and a final ranking of 17th.
 
Taking the win 1.453 seconds ahead of Ferlazzo was Austrian Nico Gleirscher, second was Lavian Kristers Aparjods, and German Max Langenhan rounded out the podium in third.

Ferlazzo commented after the race

"I was happy with the first run!

"On the second I broke out into a skid down the bottom that pushed me back to 17th. Overall it’s movement in the right direction after that shocker of a first half.

"Altenberg up next! Looking forward to some smooth fast ice."
 
The next event for Ferlazzo is the World Cup in Altenberg, Austria, on January 11.