2022 Olympians Bree Walker and brakewoman Kiara Reddingius have raced in the two-woman bobsleigh event for the first time this northern winter, finishing with a gold and silver medal performance in the Europe Cup competition in Innsbruck, Austria.
 
Bobsleigh pilot Walker has been focused on the monobob World Cup events in the early season, allowing the pair to prepared for up for the upcoming two-woman World Cups in the best possible way on the Europe Cup circuit, taking a second-place finish on day one and the one place better claiming victory on day two..
 
On day one Walker and Rdddingius won the opening run, then the third fastest second run and finishing in a two-run time of 1:46.07, just 0.03 seconds behind event winners Charlotte Candrix and Lena Brunnhübner of Germany. Rounding out the podium in third was Maureen Zimmer and Lena Neunecker also German, 0.21 seconds behind first place.
 
In the second event, Walker and Rdddingius won both runs to take the gold medal in a two-run time of 1:46.79, 0.24 seconds ahead of Linda Weiszewski and Klaudia Adamek of Poland. Germany’s  Charlotte Candrix and Lena Brunnhübner were  third 0.25 seconds off first place.
 
Also competing in Innsbruck was Sarah Blizzard who finished 15th in the monobob, and teamed up with brakewoman Hayley Silvester in the two-woman event to finish 16th on day one.
 
The first World Cup event of 2025 is in Winterberg, Germany, on January 4-5.

The ISU Short Track Speed Skatting World Cup tour moved to Seoul, Korea, for the final event of the year, with all three Australians in action recording a finish in the top-25.
 
2022 Olympian Brendan Corey had two top-25’s and was unlucky not to make the semi-finals in the 1500m, placing third in his heat and looked to initially qualify, but in the final heat two skaters were advanced after another skater received a penalty, placing him in the repechage rounds where he was unable to progress.
 
Lucas Wareham had his second straight top 25th place finish in the 1000m, was 51st in the 500m, and receive a penalty in the 1500m.
 
In the women’s event, Hyo Jin Kim made it to the semi-final stage in the 1500m and a final ranking of 21st. After injuring her ankle she elected not to compete in the 500m, and finished 45th in the 1000m.

Result Summary

Brendan Corey
500m – 22nd
1000m – 24th
1500m – 55th

Lucas Wareham
500m – 51st
1000m – 25th
1500m – Penalty

Hyo Jin Kim
500m – DNS
1000m – 45th
1500m – 21st
 
The next Short Track World Cup will take place in Tilburg in the Netherlands on February 7-9.

The first team sprint Cross Country Skiing World Cup events of the season have taken pace in Davos, Switzerland, with the Australian women’s team finishing 18th and the men’s team 29th.
 
In the women’s event Rosie Fordham and Ellen Soehol Lie teamed up, just missing the top-15 final in 18th place.
 
Seve De Campo and Lars Young Vik teamed up in the men’s event to finish in 29th place.
 
See below full summary of Australian results, with individual sprint and 20km events also taking place in Davos.
 
Team Sprint Women
18th Rosie Fordham and Ellen Soehol Lie

Team Sprint Men
29th Seve De Campo & Lars Young Vik

Women’s Individual Sprint
53rd Rosie Fordham
56th Ellen Soehol Lie

Men’s Individual Sprint
73rd Lars Young Vik
83rd Bentley Walker-Broose
84th Seve De Campo
 
Women’s 20km Classic
39th Rosie Fordham

Men’s 20km Classic
71st Seve De Campo
79th Bentley Walker-Broose

Three-time Olympian Alex Ferlazzo suffered an unfortunate crash at the Nations Cup event at the Luge World Cup event in Oberhof, Germany.

The Nations Cup event is the qualifier for the World Cup, and in his run Ferlazzo was easily on track to qualify sitting in fifth place towards the end of the track before crashing and recording a did not finish.

Ferlazzo will be back in action in the new year, competing in the World Cup event in Sigulda, Latvia.

At the IBSF monobob World Cup competition in Sigulda, Latvia, Bree Walker finished in third place, giving the 2022 Olympian her first podium of the season and eighth of her career.
 
The QAS athlete had a great first run with the second fastest time of the round in 53.32 seconds, just 0.1 seconds behind first place.
 
In the second and final run, Walker had the fourth fastest time in 53.83 seconds, and a two-run combined time of 1:47.15 putting her in third place, 0.26 seconds behind race winner Lisa Buckwitz of Germany, with Laura Nolte also of Germany second, 0.17 ahead of Walker.

The medal performance was Walker’s first on the Sigulda track and has her ranked third on the World Cup standings after two events.
 
“I was really happy with today, always a win when we are on the podium but especially here, as I really have a love hate relationship with this track, so it’s very satisfying and a nice way to end the first half of the World Cup season” said the 32-year-old from Queensland.
 
“I am so grateful for all the hard work my team has put in this week to help me win this medal. You really have to work hard to get it right at this place and everyone came together like a well-oiled machine. I am excited to take this momentum into the second half of the season.”
 
Sarah Blizzard finished in 17th place in her second monobob World Cup start .

The bobsleigh World Cup tour will resume in the new year in Winterberg, Germany, on January 4-5.

The IBSF World Cup season commenced over the weekend in Altenberg, Germany, with Bree Walker making a great start with a top-five finishing in the monobob.

The 2022 Olympian made a great start to the event on the difficult Altenberg track with the fastest time of all competitors in the first run in 59.47 seconds.

Making it even more impressive, was Walker had the tenth fastest start time, but then showed her impressive driving skills to work her way to the fastest time of the round.

In the second run, the third last competitor Elana Meyers Taylor of America had a fall which resulted in a delay which slowed the track down for the final two competitors and leaders from the first run, Debora Annen of Switzerland and finally Walker.

Walker finished her second run in a time of 1:01.13 seconds, which was the seventh fastest of the round, pushing her back to fifth place with a two run total of 2:00.60 seconds.

Taking the win 0.66 seconds ahead of Walker was Laura Nolte of Germany, with her teammate Lisa Buckwitz in second and Andreaa Grecu of Romania in third.

Walker reflected on her performance after the race.

“The fifth is a solid place to start the season. Unlucky to have a crash and a track hold in the snow before my second heat but I accept that can happen in bobsleigh sometimes.

“All in all I am m happy with my drives and how I performed, especially here in Altenberg, it sure has been a journey for me here. Ready to build on that this season.”

Sarah Blizzard made her World Cup monobob and two-woman World Cup driving debut, finishing in 21^st place in the monobob, and 17th in the two-woman with brakewoman Ashleigh Werner.

Walker and brakewoman Kiara Reddingius elected to not compete in the first two-woman bobsleigh events of the season, but will commence their season together in the first event of the new year in Winterberg, Germany.

Next weekend the IBSF tour moves to Sigulda, Latvia, for the next round of World Cup competition.

Australia’s Cross Country Skiers have competed in the latest World Cup event in Lillehammer, Norway, over the weekend.

The highlight was Rosie Fordham who achieved a personal best result of 33rd in the 10km (Free) event.

Summary of results

Women’s 10km Interval Start Free

• Rosie Fordham 33^rd

Men’s 10km Interval Start Free

• Seve De Campo 70th
• Lars Young Vik 74th
• Bentley Walker-Broose 79th

Women’s Sprint

• Ellen Soehol Lie 56th

Men’s Sprint

• Lars Young Vik 67th
• Seve De Campo 78th
• Bentley Walker-Broose 81st

Women’s 20km Skiathlon Classic/Free

• DSQ

Men’s 20km Skiathlon Classic/Free

• Seve De Campo 62nd
• Bentley Walker-Broose 68th

Alex Ferlazzo has competed in the second event of the FIL World Cup season, finishing 19th in Innsbruck, Austria.

Ferlazzo qualified for the World Cup via the Nations Cup pre event, where he placed sixth from 31 starters.

In the World Cup competing in snowy conditions, Ferlazzo had the 16th fastest first run in a time of 50.539 seconds.

Unfortunately, in the second run in the snowy conditions where course officials clear snow after every five athletes, Ferlazzo was unluckily the fifth starter, so had the worst of the conditions, he had a fall at the bottom of his run sliding across the finish line, finishing in a time of 51.776 seconds, the 19th fastest of the round.

Ferlazzo’s two-run time was 1:42.315, which was 2.602 seconds behind event winner Nico Gleirscher of Austria competing on his home track.

Ferlazzo had solid hometown support at the event, with his mother and sister and friends in the crowd

“It’s not what I am after, but it’s the first run in a while where I felt like I was sliding well again” said the three-time Olympian from Townsville.

“Just going to carry this momentum into the next race and keep pushing it’s a lot of fun, especially having the family here.”

The next World Cup event for Ferlazzo will be in Oberhof, Germany, with the event to take place in December 15.

The 2024 Australian Figure Skating Championships took place from November 29 to December 6 at the O’Brien Icehouse in Melbourne, with the highlight being the performance of OWIA Ice Dance couple Holly Harris and Jason Chan.
 
Senior Results
 
Senior Dance

1. Holly Harris/Jason Chan (VIC)
2. Romy Malcolm/Kobi Chant (QLD)
3. Samantha Udell/Zach Churton (VIC)

Women

1. Hana Bath (WA)
2. Maria Chernyshova (NSW)
3. Sienna Kaczmarczyk

Men

1. Darrian Kaptich (QLD)
2. Julio Potapenko (NSW)
3. Dougless Gerber (SA)
   

Link for full results: https://results.iceskatingvictoria.org.au/live/FSM/AFSC24/

The ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup tour moved to Asia for two weekends of World Cup competition, first up in Beijing and next weekend in Seoul.

2024 World Championship medallist Brendan Corey had a rare quiet weekend, with his best result coming in the 1500m where he finished 22nd in the semi-finals, and was 43^rd in the 1000m and 66th in the 500m.

Joining Corey in the men’s event was fellow countryman Lucas Wareham, who finished 25th in the 1000m, 34th in the 1500m and 54th in the 500m.

In the women’s event Hyo Jin Kim had her best ever World Cup result for Australia with a 16th place finish in the 1500m, and was 39th in the 500m and 1000m.

Three-time Australian Olympian Alex Ferlazzo has competed in the opening Luge World Cup event of the 2024-2025, finishing in 17th place in Lillehammer, Norway.
 
Competing on the 1994 Olympic Luge track, Ferlazzo had a great start in his first turn with the second quickest start of all competitors. He ended up with the 16th fastest time on his first run, finishing in 49.408 seconds.
 
In the second run, Ferlazzo again had a quick start with the fourth fastest opening section, and finished the run in 49.005 seconds which was the 15th best of the second round.
 
Overall, Ferlazzo had a two run time of 1:38.413 seconds, placing him in 17th, 1.075 seconds behind event winner Max Langenham of Germany.

After the race Ferlazzo commented

"The race was alright, I didn’t slide to my best and the track deteriorated with the warm weather.

"I’m super happy with the starts though."
 
Next up for Ferlazzo is the World Cup event in Innsbruck, Austria, on December 8.