Olympic champion Kaillie Humphries of Canada wins bobsled World Cup season opener

ALTENBERG, Germany – Olympic and world champion Kaillie Humphries of Canada started the bobsled season by winning the first World Cup race on Friday.

Humphries and brakeswoman Melissa Lotholz was quickest in both runs, clocking 56.77 and 56.90 seconds for a combined time of 1:53.67, and shaving 0.002 seconds off her six-year-old track record.

“Overall I’m really happy how it went. We pushed faster this year than last year, which shows a summer of good training is paying off,” said Humphries following her 30th career World Cup podium. “We had two good runs overall, and I’m happy with how I drove today. The new sled is running really well and I hope to continue to build on this momentum for rest of season.”

Belgium’s Elfje Willemsen and Sophie Vercruyssen were next with a time of 1:54.41, followed by Jamie Greubel Poser and Lauren Gibbs of the United States in 1:54.72.

Christina Hengster and Sanne Monique Dekker of Austria were fourth (1:54.72), while world championship runner-up Anja Schneiderheinze of Germany was fifth with Franziska Bertels (1:54.85).