Bree Walker has finished the monobob World Cup season in spectacular fashion, winning back-to-back races on the Lillehammer track over the past seven days, and earning her a second place ranking on the final IBSF Monobob World Cup standings for the second consecutive year.
 
The QAS bobsleigh pilot made an impressive start on the 1994 Olympic track in Norway, setting the second fastest push time. This speed at the top together and her driving skills combined to set a new track record, winning the first run in 54.01 seconds, 0.09 second ahead of Canadian Cynthia Appiah.
 
In the final run with the track slowing down, Walker had the last run of the event and was able to maintain her lead with the fourth fastest time in 54.56 seconds, and a combined time of 1:48.51, in first place ahead of Appiah by 0.15, and German Lisa Buckwitz 0.16 behind in third place.
 
The 2022 Olympian now has three World Cup monobob victories and 13 career podiums.
 
“Super happy to go back-to-back here in Lillehammer” said the 32-year-old from Queensland.
 
“It’s a really fun track, I enjoy driving it and so today it was about going out there and executing two clean runs and stoked to come away with the win again.
 
“Feels so great to secure the second place Crystal Globe again, a big goal was to win a crystal globe again, so really happy that my consistency throughout the year has paid off.”
 
Also in action for Australia was fellow Queenslander Sarah Blizzard in 15th place.
 
On the final World Cup standings, Walker is ranked second in the world for the second straight year on 1596 points, trailing Buckwitz by 41, who again won the title. Third on the standings was another German, Laura Nolte on 1555. Sarah Blizzard finished 21st on 523 points.
 
In the two-woman competition, Sarah Blizzard and brakewoman Ashley Werner finished in a personal best finish of 13th. Walker and her brakewoman Kiara Reddingius elected to skip the final two-woman race.
 
The bobsleigh world will now travel to the USA for the mid-March World Championships in Lake Placid, New York. The monobob competition is on March 8-9, and the two-woman event scheduled for March 15-16.

QAS bobsleigh pilot Bree Walker has secured her first World Cup victory of the season and second of her career, with an impressive win in Lillehammer, Norway, sharing the gold medal with American Kaysha Love in a dead heat, the first tie in monobob World Cup history.
 
Walker opened with a time of 54.56 seconds in the first heat, recording the second fastest time of the round, trailing 2022 Olympic champion Laura Nolte of Germany by only 0.01 seconds.
 
In the final run, Walker again posted the second fastest time in 54.58 seconds, giving her a combined time of 1:49.14, to equal American Kaysha Love. Nolte, the last competitor down the 1994 Olympic track, was unable to surpass Walker and Love, slipping 0.07 seconds behind in third place.
 
The 2022 Olympian now has 11 career monobob World Cup podiums.
 
“Really happy to be able to secure my first win of the season after being so close a few times” said the 32-year-old from Queensland.
 
“I really love sliding here, I was feeling really good coming into this race, but I knew it would be a very competitive race as always, so I just went out there and focused on pushing really fast and driving well and was able to come away with the win so very happy with that.”
 
“Lillehammer is a special place for me, I came away with my first career bobsleigh medals in European Cup races in the 2018-2019 season, and to also secure my second World Cup medal on this track after a silver last season, I really love the track and I enjoy sliding here.
 
“We are going into tomorrow’s two-woman race with the same expectations I had today, to push hard and put down two consistent drives, and see what the results are on the other side.”
 
Fellow QAS pilot Sarah Blizzard finished in 22nd place.
 
The win sees Walker move back into second place on the monobob World Cup standings on 1371 points, trailing Lisa Buckwitz of Germany on 1437 points, with Nolte third on 1371.
 
Crash for Walker & Reddingius in two-woman
 
In the two-woman event, unfortunately 2022 Olympians Bree Walker and brakewoman Kiara Reddingius suffer a bad crash near the end of the track, sliding the last section to the finish line on their side.

The Australia number one sled was fifth fastest off the start and was placed top 10 by the intermediate times just before crashing on the lower track. 
 
The fall resulted in the pair finishing in 21st place and missing the top-20 cut for the second run.
 
Sarah Blizzard and Ashley Werner were also in action for Australia finishing in 20th.
 
The final monobob and two-woman World Cup race of the season is scheduled on the same track in Norway next weekend on February 15-16.

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.

Bree Walker has continued her successful season in monobob, with a silver medal performance in Winterberg, Germany.
 
The podium performance for Walker is her fifth of the season and sees her move into second place on the world standings.
 
Monobob is set to make its debut at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, with Walker regarded as one of the leading athletes in the event.
 
The 29-year-old from Queensland was in second place after the first run, despite crashing on the last corner and sliding across the finish line on her side.
 
It is not uncommon for sleds to go down on the last corner in Winterberg, with it often referred to as the victory roll due to its close proximity to the finish line.
 
In the second and final run, Walker showed she was impacted by the previous run, recording the fastest time of the round finishing just 0.17 seconds behind first place with a two run combined time of 1:58.93 seconds.
 
The event was won by American Elana Meyers Taylor with a time of 1:58.76, with German Laura Nolte in third with a time of 1:59.01.
 
“I am really satisfied with what I have been able to produce so far this season in the monobob” ,said Walker after extending her podium streak to five straight events.
 
“I am really proud of how I have been able to put together races and continually be on the podium, so I hope I can continue to produce good results like this heading into the next weeks monobob race in in St Moritz and then also at the Olympic Winter Games.”
 
“A very exciting time but it isn’t over yet.”

Walker teamed up with brakewoman Kiara Reddingius to compete in the two-woman bobsleigh the following day, recording an eighth place performance, her second top-10 World Cup performance of the season.
 
Also in action for Australia in the Europe Cup series in Innsbruck, Austria, was Ashleigh Werner, who took home a silver and bronze medal in the monobob world series events and teamed up with brakewoman Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr to finish in fourth place in the two-woman bobsleigh.

In the skeleton World Cup event in Winterberg, Jacqui Narracott had one of her best results of the season, finishing in 11th place.

"Finally a decent result. 11th with the fourth fastest run of heat two is a pretty good way to start 2022, said the 2018 Olympian.
 
The Australian bobsleigh and skeleton athlete will compete next weekend at the final World Cup of the season in St Moritz, Switzerland. 

Aussie Bobsledder Bree Walker has continued her great form in Monobob, claiming her third podium of the season with a silver medal at the IBSF World Series event in Sigulda, Latvia.
 
Walker's trademark electric start was on display again as she shattered the track's previous start record. Despite some small driving difficulties in her 2nd heat, Walker held on for the silver medal spot, 0.02 seconds ahead of Nadezhda Sergeeva of Russia in third place and 0.56 seconds behind Canadian Christine de Bruin who took home the gold medal.
 
“Starting 2022 with second place in Sigulda Monobob World Series”, said the 29-year-old from Queensland.

“Very happy to start the new year off with another podium!
 
“Thank you so much to my team, family, friends and sponsors for all your support in 2021! Excited for what is to come in 2022.”
 
Also recording a strong performance for Australia was Ashleigh Werner who finished in sixth place, 0.8 second behind first place.
 
In the two-woman bobsleigh, Ashley Werner and brakewoman Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr teamed up for their first ever World Cup start, and were the best placed Australian’s in 12th place. The result was a personal best World Cup finish for Werner, and the World Cup debut for Toomey-Orr, who is a 5 time Crossfit Games champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist in weightlifting.
 
The team of Walker and brakewoman Kiara Reddingius were set for a top-5 run but crashed towards the end of the Sigulda track, sliding across the finishing line on their side. The pair recovered to take the second run, but unfortunately crashed again to finish in 18th place.
 
Team Walker will now head to Winterberg, Germany, for the next round of World Cup competition, with Team Werner off to Innsbruck, Austria, for a Europe Cup event.

Bobsled Bree Walker continued her successful 2021 season, claiming gold in the Monobob World Series race in Winterberg, Germany.

Focusing on additional experience on the Winterberg track, Walker elected to forego the World Cup event on the same weekend in Altenberg with great results, finishing first ahead of Germany’s Lisa Buckwitz and France’s Margot Boch.

At the Altenberg World Cup event, Ashleigh Werner finished 17th in the monobob, before teaming with Kiara Reddingius in the 2-woman bobsleigh, also finishing in 17th.

Bree Walker has claimed the first Australian world cup podium of the Olympic season.
 
Walker continued her strong start in World Cup competition, with an impressive performance in the monobob discipline in  Innsbruck, Austria, taking home the bronze medal in the second event of the IBSF tour.
 
Monobob is set to make its debut at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, with Walker regarded as one of the leading athletes in the sport, having finished the 2020-2021 season ranked second in the world.
 
The 29-year-old from Queensland was in second place after the first round of competition and moved back one place to finish in third place after the second run.
 
The event was won by American Elana Meyers Taylor, with German Laura Nolte in second.
 
“We made a few important changes this week which obviously had a huge impact”, said Walker after stepping off the podium.
 
“This race certainly gives me confidence, but this season is a marathon, not a sprint, so we hope to build of this result and continue to trust the process for the rest of the season.”
 
Also in action for Australia was Ashley Werner, who finished in 21st place.
 
Walker and Werner will be back in action tonight in Innsbruck, competing in the two-woman bobsleigh World Cup.

IMAGE: IBSF/Viesturs Lacis

Australian Olympian Jackie Narracott has competed in the World Cup event in St Moritz Switzerland, the second last World Cup event of the season.

Narracott finished the skeleton event 2.57 second behind the event winner Tina Hermann of Germany, with her first run ranked 17th, and second run 13th, to give her an overall ranking of 15th out of a field size of 24.

"15th yesterday, not exactly thrilled by it but I can say that my two best runs of the week were the ones that counted," Narracott commented after the race.

"Looking forward to some (mostly) pressure free sliding in Altenberg as the prep for Worlds heats up."

The next stop on the skeleton World Cup tour will be in Sigulda, Latvia, on February 16, the last event before the 2021 World Championships in Altenberg, Germany, on February 28-29.

In other sliding sports news, two Australian bobsleigh teams competed in the Europa Cup event in Innsbruck, Austria.

Bree Walker & Stephanie Fernandez finished in 10th place, with Ashleigh Werner & Mikaela Sparre in 21st place.

IMAGE: © Jackie Narracott Instagram