Love wins World Cup women’s bobsled bronze for US, heading into holiday break on tour

SIGULDA, Latvia (AP) — Kaysha Love is going into the World Cup bobsled holiday break on a high note.

Love and Jasmine Jones paired up to win bronze for the U.S. in a women’s bobsled race Sunday, the final day of sliding on the World Cup circuits before all three tours — bobsled, skeleton and luge — take some time off for Christmas.

It was Love’s sixth World Cup medal in women’s bobsled, the second since she became a driver last season. She also has three medals — two gold, one silver — in World Cup monobob events.

German sleds took gold and silver in the women’s race, with Laura Nolte and Leonie Kluwig winning just ahead of Kim Kalicki and Neele Schuten.

Canada’s Melissa Lotholz and Leah Walkeden finished 12th, just ahead of Canadian teammates Cynthia Appia and Skylar Sieben who came in 13th.

In the two-man race, Germany again medaled twice. Johannes Lochner and Jörn Wenzel got the win, with Britain’s Brad Hall and Taylor Lawrence second. Germany’s Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schuller were third.

Frank del Duca teamed with Charlie Volker to give the U.S. a fifth-place finish.

Luge

At Oberhof, Germany, the Austrian team dominated on Sunday.

Austria went 1-2-3-4 in the men’s singles race — Jonas Mueller winning, Nico Gleirscher second, David Gleirscher third and Wolfgang Kindl fourth. The top U.S. finisher in the men’s race was Jonny Gustafson, who placed 12th.

Austria also won Sunday’s team relay, with Germany second and Italy third. The U.S. was fifth.

Bobsled standings

— Two-man (through 3 of 8 events): Francesco Friedrich, Germany, 650 points; Johannes Lochner, Germany, 645; Brad Hall, Britain, 594. Top U.S. ranking: Frank del Duca, 9th, 432 points.

— Four-man (through 1 of 8 events): Francesco Friedrich, Germany, 225 points; Johannes Lochner, Germany, 210; Markus Treichl, Austria, 210. Top U.S. ranking: Frank del Duca, 13th, 120 points.

— Two-woman (through 2 of 8 events): Laura Nolte, Germany, 450 points; Kim Kalicki, Germany, 410; Lisa Buckwitz, Germany, 402. Top U.S. ranking: Kaysha Love, 5th, 352 points.

— Monobob (through 2 of 8 events): Lisa Buckwitz, Germany, 435 points; Laura Nolte, Germany, 435; Bree Walker, Austria, 384. Top U.S. ranking: Kaysha Love, 6th, 328 points.

Skeleton standings

— Men (through 5 of 8 events): Marcus Wyatt, Britain, 1,037 points; Matt Weston, Britain, 1,030; Christopher Grotheer, Germany, 900. Top U.S. ranking: Austin Florian, 11th, 704 points.

— Women (though 5 of 8 events): Hannah Neise, Germany, 988 points; Janine Flock, Austria, 940; Kimberley Bos, Netherlands, 897. Top U.S. ranking: Mystique Ro, 15th, 564 points.

Luge standings

— Men’s singles (through 3 of 9 events): Nico Gleirscher, Austria, 231 points; Jonas Mueller, Austria, 227; Wolfgang Kindl, Austria, 205. Top U.S. ranking: Jonny Gustafson, 10th, 121 points.

— Women’s singles (through 3 of 9 events): Julia Taubitz, Germany, 255 points; Madeleine Egle, Austria, 246; Lisa Schulte, Austria, 225. Top U.S. ranking: Emily Sweeney, 5th, 145 points.

— Men’s doubles (through 3 of 9 events): Toni Eggert-Florian Mueller, Germany, 240 points; Martins Bots-Roberts Plume, Latvia, 231; Thomas Steu-Wolfgang Kindl, Austria, 210. Top U.S. ranking: Marcus Mueller-Ansel Haugsjaa, 9th, 108 points.

— Women’s doubles (through 3 of 9 events): Jessica Degenhardt-Cheyenne Rosenthal, Germany, 255 points; Selina Egle-Lara Kipp, Austria, 250; Chevonne Forgan-Sophie Kirkby, United States, 225.

Up next

Luge — World Cup at Sigulda, Latvia, Jan. 4-5.

Bobsled — World Cup at Winterberg, Germany, Jan. 4-5.

Skeleton — World Cup at Winterberg, Germany, Jan. 3.

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