CORTINA, Italy – Canada’s Helen Upperton and brakeman Heather Moyse returned to the podium together for the first time since their breakout season in 2006, finishing second at a World Cup bobsled event Friday.
They had a combined time of one minute 49.99 seconds, just behind Sandra Kiriasis and brakeman Romy Logsch of Germany, who took gold in 1:49.85. Cathleen Martini and Janine Tischer of Germany were third in 1:50.34.
Facing one of the most technically challenging tracks on the World Cup circuit, which boasts a chain of tight corners at the top that demands perfection and punishes driver error, Upperton struggled all week to find the line after crashing in her first training run with Moyse.
But on race day, a combination of fast starts and clean driving in the Canada 1 sled helped the Canadians to a silver medal.
“I love this track, but it is mentally stressful,” Upperton said. “If you make an error at the top you can’t catch up and are done. Today I had my two best runs this week and we are pretty happy.”
Upperton, of Calgary, teamed with Moyse, of Summerside, P.E.I., to finish fourth at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. That season, they won five World Cup medals, including the first-ever gold for a Canadian women’s sled.
Upperton has one gold and two silver World Cup medals this season in four races. This was the second race back for Moyse, who took last year off to complete her post-secondary education. Moyse is also a member of the Canadian women’s rugby team.
Upperton, 28, and Moyse, 29, teamed up to finish fourth in Park City, Utah just prior to the holiday break last month.
“I was frustrated with our fourth-place in Park City because the brakemen are working so hard and you want to earn them a medal in the end,” Upperton said. “It was nice to get on the podium with Heather today.”
Moyse will share brakeman duties in the Canada 1 sled this year with Edmonton’s Jenny Ciochetti, who pushed Upperton to gold at the season-opening World Cup event in Calgary nearly two months ago.
Kiriasis leads the season standings with 875 points through four races. Upperton is second with 837 points and Martini is third with 812.
Calgary’s Kaillie Humphries re-united with Jenni Hucul of Saskatoon to drive the Canada 2 sled to an eighth-place finish in 1:50.93. Lisa Szabon, of Nanton, Alta., and Jamie Cruickshank of Saskatoon were 12th in 1:51.61.
The men’s event is scheduled for Saturday.
