British Bobsleigh
Home of the Great Britain Bobsleigh Team
- Tel: +44 (0) 1225 384 343
- E-mail: enquiries@bobteamgb.org
- Become a member
-
Girls Win World Push Champs
07 January 2005
Report by Pete Gunn
On arriving in Germany we were all picked up by officials and driven to Leipzig. The hotel was 200m from the push facility and very posh (to posh for us really) but nearly all the other teams were staying there so that was ideal.
At the Team Captains Meeting it was a pleasant surprise to find out that Mr Horst Hornlein (Ex British Coach) was
a member of the jury. He was pleased to see some British competitors at the world champs and wished us luck.
The competition started at 1230hrs and was held over 3 runs. All 3 runs were to count which left no room for error. In the women's competition there were 8 teams from 6 nations taking part, making it a truly international race. One of the top teams from Germany Sandra Prokoff and Berit Wiacker were also taking part.
In the first run the girls started 5.67 which they believed would be good enough to go into the lead. The Romanians then started and shocked everyone with a 5.67 to equal the lead with GBR. The other teams of GER 1 & GER 2 were 1/10 or more away. Again the girls started and this time pushed a 5.63 and the Romanians replied with another 5.67 they were determined not to let the GBR team get too far in front. There was then a break of about 5 hours before the last run which was due to be held at 2000hrs.
The final heat was run 8 to 1 on time as is common to most bobsleigh races. As we went back to the track we noticed that it had been raining quite heavily. This had now stopped but with water on the track it meant that there was even more scope for an error. The reality was that after 2 heats only the ROM team could catch the girls barring an accident. There was a great battle going on for third and forth place between GER 1 (Prokoff) and GER 2 (Schwamm). On the last push GER 2 came from behind to take third position by only 4/100ths.
GBR was the last team to go and we waited anxiously. The ROM team stepped up to push and were very focused. Their trainer was trying to fire them up. They started and were even quicker this time with a 5.65. This meant that Nicola and Jackie could not relax and had to give it their best effort so as not to be beat. Both girls were extremely focused and even more determined to win than the ROM team had looked. The girls started and exploded out of the block, both girls were running in sync and worked all the way to the end, where they loaded without fault. Everyone waited for the time to come up....... it was a 5.62 the fastest time of the day!
All the teams were very sporting and the Romanians were the first to congratulate our girls.
At the prize giving the British Flag was raised and the British National Anthem was played, a very rare sight at a bobsleigh event in the past few years. Horst Hornlein was immensely pleased for the team as he still has a soft spot for British Bobsleighers.
The team of Gautier and Davies have proved themselves on the world stage again and shown that they are the team to be beaten at the start.
Although the start is only 10% of a bobsleigh race it does give the driver the chance to do well. Both girls were driving well last year and are extremely fit this year. Things can only get better, and it would be good to see top ten finishes for 2004/2005.
Final Results
At the Team Captains Meeting it was a pleasant surprise to find out that Mr Horst Hornlein (Ex British Coach) was
a member of the jury. He was pleased to see some British competitors at the world champs and wished us luck.
The competition started at 1230hrs and was held over 3 runs. All 3 runs were to count which left no room for error. In the women's competition there were 8 teams from 6 nations taking part, making it a truly international race. One of the top teams from Germany Sandra Prokoff and Berit Wiacker were also taking part.
In the first run the girls started 5.67 which they believed would be good enough to go into the lead. The Romanians then started and shocked everyone with a 5.67 to equal the lead with GBR. The other teams of GER 1 & GER 2 were 1/10 or more away. Again the girls started and this time pushed a 5.63 and the Romanians replied with another 5.67 they were determined not to let the GBR team get too far in front. There was then a break of about 5 hours before the last run which was due to be held at 2000hrs.
The final heat was run 8 to 1 on time as is common to most bobsleigh races. As we went back to the track we noticed that it had been raining quite heavily. This had now stopped but with water on the track it meant that there was even more scope for an error. The reality was that after 2 heats only the ROM team could catch the girls barring an accident. There was a great battle going on for third and forth place between GER 1 (Prokoff) and GER 2 (Schwamm). On the last push GER 2 came from behind to take third position by only 4/100ths.
GBR was the last team to go and we waited anxiously. The ROM team stepped up to push and were very focused. Their trainer was trying to fire them up. They started and were even quicker this time with a 5.65. This meant that Nicola and Jackie could not relax and had to give it their best effort so as not to be beat. Both girls were extremely focused and even more determined to win than the ROM team had looked. The girls started and exploded out of the block, both girls were running in sync and worked all the way to the end, where they loaded without fault. Everyone waited for the time to come up....... it was a 5.62 the fastest time of the day!
All the teams were very sporting and the Romanians were the first to congratulate our girls.
At the prize giving the British Flag was raised and the British National Anthem was played, a very rare sight at a bobsleigh event in the past few years. Horst Hornlein was immensely pleased for the team as he still has a soft spot for British Bobsleighers.
The team of Gautier and Davies have proved themselves on the world stage again and shown that they are the team to be beaten at the start.
Although the start is only 10% of a bobsleigh race it does give the driver the chance to do well. Both girls were driving well last year and are extremely fit this year. Things can only get better, and it would be good to see top ten finishes for 2004/2005.
Final Results
POS | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Total | Diff | |
1 | GBR1 | 5.67 | 5.63 | 5.62 | 16.92 | +0.00 |
2 | ROM1 | 5.67 | 5.67 | 5.65 | 16.99 | +0.07 |
3 | GER2 | 5.75 | 5.75 | 5.71 | 17.21 | +0.29 |
4 | GER1 | 5.72 | 5.76 | 5.77 | 17.25 | +0.33 |
5 | CZE1 | 5.85 | 5.76 | 5.79 | 17.40 | +0.48 |
6 | NED1 | 5.92 | 5.99 | 5.94 | 17.85 | +0.93 |
7 | ROM2 | 6.04 | 6.00 | 6.02 | 18.06 | +1.14 |
8 | CRO1 | 6.02 | 6.05 | 6.02 | 18.09 | +1.17 |