Christine De Bruin of Edmonton, Alberta and Kristen Bujnowski of London, Ontario won the bronze medal at a World Cup women’s bobsled event in Innsbruck, Austria on Sunday. For De Bruin it was her fifth career World Cup medal in two-woman bobsled. She has now won three silver medals and two bronze medals. This was also the fifth career medal for Bujnowski. She has now won three silver medals and two bronze medals too.
De Bruin and Bujnowski posted a two-run time of 1:46.51 in Innsbruck. Laura Nolte and Leonie Fiebig of Germany won the gold medal with a time of 1:46.22. Kim Kalicki and Anabel Glander of Germany won the silver medal with a time of 1:46.39. The Canadians prevented a German sweep of the podium by one one-hundredth of a second. The German pair of Mariama Jamanka and Kira Lipperheide finished in fourth place with a time of 1:46.52.
De Bruin is not the first Edmonton bobsledder to reach the World Cup podium this year. In the women’s Monobob World Series two weeks ago in Whistler, British Columbia, Alysia Rissling won three gold medals. She had winning times of 1:52.79, 1:52.60, and 1:52.88. Bianca Ribi of Calgary, Alberta also won two medals, as she was second In the third race with a time of 1:53.06, and third in the second race with a time of 1:54.98. The medals for De Bruin, Bujnowski, Rissling and Ribi will give them confidence in their preparation for making the Canadian Olympic team for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.