Lyndon Rush of Sylvan Lake piloted Canada 1 to a gold-medal finish in a World Cup two-man bobsled event Saturday in La Plagne, France.
Rush and teammate Jesse Lumsden had a combined, two-run time of 2:01.18 to capture their first gold of the season.
“We’ve been close all year, but it is so fun when you finally close the deal,” said Rush, who grabbed his first silver this year with Lascelles Brown on the brakes. “It is so hard to start on this track because it is really flat so it exposes the better athletes. Jesse is an unbelievable athlete and he did an incredible job carrying the load today.”
It was the fifth two-man and ninth overall World Cup medal for Rush, who won the four-man Olympic bronze medal in 2010. Rush and Lumsden have combined to win five World Cup medals together, including two victories, inaddition to sliding to the silver medal at last year’s World Championships.
Saturday’s gold, which is Rush’s third career two-man victory, brings the Canadian bobsleigh squads podium total to nine this year.
“So much of the credit has to go to Eurotech and the mechanics they have working on our sleds,” said Rush. “They do all of the work which allows us athletes to focus on pushing and driving. We are one of the best supported teams in the world through Eurotech.”
Earlier in the day, Calgary’s Sarah Reid also put a silver lining on a career-best first half of the season that saw her pick up one gold and two silver medals.
The 25-year-old Reid rocketed down the challenging 1,507-metre La Plagne track in a time of 2:08.71 to finish in a deadlock for second spot with Germany’s Marion Thees.
l In the skeleton World Cup race at La Plagne, Melissa Hollingsworth of Eckville was seventh in 2:09.53.