British Bobsleigh Association
World Championships - Lake Placid, Men's Race Reports, February 2009
03 March 2009
The 2009 World Bobsleigh Championships were held at Lake Placid. Whereas the races that make up the eight race World Cup series consist of just two runs, the World Championships reflect the Olympics and consist of four runs, held over two days, and are only held in non-Olympic years. The results are decided on the total time for all four runs, so consistency is crucial.
The women's bobsleigh competition was held on 20th and 21st February 2009, and is reported separately. This Race Report covers the 2-Man and the 4-Man competitions, which both had two team entered from Great Britain, for drivers Lee Johnston and John Jackson.
2-Man Bobsleigh Race
The 2-Man Bobsleigh World Championships were held on 21st and 22nd February 2009 with an entry of 32 bobsleighs from 18 nations.
Ivo Ruegg / Cedric Grand of Switzerland became World Champions. They were never threatened after taking the lead on the second run and headed 2nd placed Thomas Florschutz / Marc Kuehne of Germany by 0.22 seconds, with Steven Holcomb / Tomasevic Curtis of the USA 0.18 seconds further back in 3rd place.
Royal Marine Lee Johnston teamed up with Dan Money once again and finished in 20th place, recording a 16th position in the third run, which was their best run.
Fellow Royal Marine John Jackson teamed up with Army Doctor Henry Nwume and finished in a creditable 22nd place, also having a good third run, but with only the top twenty allowed to take part in the fourth run, their 2-Man World Championships were over.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race
The 4-Man Bobsleigh World Championships were held on 28th February and 1st March 2009 with an entry of 24 bobsleighs from 16 nations.
Steven Holcomb / Justin Olsen / Steve Mesler / Curtis Tomasevic of the USA deservedly became World Champions, being the fastest in each of the four run and finishing almost a second clear of the rest of the field.
Andre Lange / Alexander Roediger / Kevin Kuske / Martin Putze of Germany took 2nd place, just 0.03 seconds clear of Janis Minins / Daumants Dreiskens / Oskars Melbardis / Intars Dambis of Latvia who finished in 3rd place.
Lee Johnston / Karl Johnston / Dan Money / Allyn Condon led a good performance by Great Britain, taking 15th place, with John Jackson / Henry Nwume / Keith McLaughlin / Jamie Devlin close behind in 17th place.
Lee Johnston's team improved their start times in the third and fourth runs by swapping their crew positions, recording a best start time of 5.17 seconds against the fastest start time of 4.97 seconds, which was posted by Andre Lange's team.
John Jackson was handicapped by a bent articulation pin, which occurred in the third run, which also saw them post their fastest start time of 5.25 seconds.
The Directors of the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association congratulate all the Team GB athletes on a great 2008 - 2009 bobsleigh season, thank the Armed Forces for their support throughout the year and thank the Team Coaches, 'Gomer' Lloyd, Peter Gunn, Sean Olsson and Michelle Coy for their valuable assistance in training and in competitions.
Race Reports by Mark Carter - Performance Coordinator
The women's bobsleigh competition was held on 20th and 21st February 2009, and is reported separately. This Race Report covers the 2-Man and the 4-Man competitions, which both had two team entered from Great Britain, for drivers Lee Johnston and John Jackson.
2-Man Bobsleigh Race
The 2-Man Bobsleigh World Championships were held on 21st and 22nd February 2009 with an entry of 32 bobsleighs from 18 nations.
Ivo Ruegg / Cedric Grand of Switzerland became World Champions. They were never threatened after taking the lead on the second run and headed 2nd placed Thomas Florschutz / Marc Kuehne of Germany by 0.22 seconds, with Steven Holcomb / Tomasevic Curtis of the USA 0.18 seconds further back in 3rd place.
Royal Marine Lee Johnston teamed up with Dan Money once again and finished in 20th place, recording a 16th position in the third run, which was their best run.
Fellow Royal Marine John Jackson teamed up with Army Doctor Henry Nwume and finished in a creditable 22nd place, also having a good third run, but with only the top twenty allowed to take part in the fourth run, their 2-Man World Championships were over.
4-Man Bobsleigh Race
The 4-Man Bobsleigh World Championships were held on 28th February and 1st March 2009 with an entry of 24 bobsleighs from 16 nations.
Steven Holcomb / Justin Olsen / Steve Mesler / Curtis Tomasevic of the USA deservedly became World Champions, being the fastest in each of the four run and finishing almost a second clear of the rest of the field.
Andre Lange / Alexander Roediger / Kevin Kuske / Martin Putze of Germany took 2nd place, just 0.03 seconds clear of Janis Minins / Daumants Dreiskens / Oskars Melbardis / Intars Dambis of Latvia who finished in 3rd place.
Lee Johnston / Karl Johnston / Dan Money / Allyn Condon led a good performance by Great Britain, taking 15th place, with John Jackson / Henry Nwume / Keith McLaughlin / Jamie Devlin close behind in 17th place.
Lee Johnston's team improved their start times in the third and fourth runs by swapping their crew positions, recording a best start time of 5.17 seconds against the fastest start time of 4.97 seconds, which was posted by Andre Lange's team.
John Jackson was handicapped by a bent articulation pin, which occurred in the third run, which also saw them post their fastest start time of 5.25 seconds.
The Directors of the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association congratulate all the Team GB athletes on a great 2008 - 2009 bobsleigh season, thank the Armed Forces for their support throughout the year and thank the Team Coaches, 'Gomer' Lloyd, Peter Gunn, Sean Olsson and Michelle Coy for their valuable assistance in training and in competitions.
Race Reports by Mark Carter - Performance Coordinator