It was a very successful weekend for the Canadian women’s bobsled program as they came away with two World Cup medals in Lillehammer, Norway. On Saturday, Cynthia Appiah of Toronto, Ontario won the silver medal in the women’s mononbob, and on Sunday, Melissa Lotholz of Barrhead, Alberta and Skylar Sieben of Cochrane, Alberta won bronze in the two-woman bobsled World Cup.
In women’s monobob, Appiah had a second place time of 1:48.66. Bree Walker of Australia won the gold medal with a time of 1:48.51. Lisa Buckwitz of Germany won the bronze medal with a time of 1:48.67. Appiah reached the podium by 0.11 seconds over Melanie Hassler of Switzerland, who had a fourth place time of 1:48.77.
In two-woman bobsled, Lotholz and Sieben posted a third place time of 1:44.70. Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi of Germany won the gold medal with a time of 1:43.74. Lisa Buckwitz and Neele Schuten of Germany won the silver medal with a time of 1:43.94. Lotholz and Sieben reached the podium by two one-hundredths of a second over the German duo of Kim Kalicki and Vanessa Mark, and the Austrian duo of Katrin Beierl and Nicola Pichler of Austria, who each had a fourth place time of 1:44.72.
In the women’s monobob World Cup standings, Appiah finished in seventh place with 1202 points. Buckwitz is the Crystal Globe champion with 1637 points. Appiah now has won 10 World Cup bobsled medals (one gold, two silver, and seven bronze). In the two-woman World Cup standings, Lotholz finished in eighth place with 924 points. Nolte was the Crystal Globe champion with 1545 points. The medals for Appiah, Lotholz and Sieben will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo.
