Day 1 of this year's Canadian Bobsleigh Championships unfolded without a hitch, but there was still a pinch of drama to be found.
Not so in the women's monobob event, where Melissa Lotholz retained her crown in decisive fashion: one minute and 53.29 seconds to be exact. Erica Voss was nearly six tenths of a second behind (+0.59), edging out Bianca Ribi (+0.61) for the silver medal.
The two-man contest, however, saw Patrick Norton and Keaton Bruggeling lock up their inaugural Canadian title (1:47.36) with a slim one one-hundredth of a second lead over Taylor Austin and Yohan Eskrick-Parkinson. Austin and Eskrick-Parkinson were ultimately disqualified, which pushed Jay Dearborn and Kenny M'Pindou into runner-up position (+0.91). Cyrus Gray and Shaquille Murray-Lawrence settled for bronze (+1.09).
"My goal going into this week was just to be consistent, and I want to put down four good runs," said Lotholz. "That's what you need at the World Championships or the Olympics, so I did it in monobob today and need [two more runs] again in two-woman. There were mistakes…it's hard to have a perfect run and there's room for improvement, but it was fun."
Norton remarked: "We've come a long way, I think, as a crew, and especially my driving on this track. Whistler's [posed] some difficulty for me in the past, so it was good to walk away with two really good, consistent runs and go into the four-man."
'We're building, for sure'
The Whistler Sliding Centre (WSC) boasts Earth's fastest ice, but damp conditions throughout the week meant that track records were unlikely to occur. Even so, Lotholz ripped off the quickest push time among ladies for the day, besting skilled teammates like 2022 World Cup winner Ribi and Beijing Olympian Cynthia Appiah, who finished fourth.
"You're not going to win a race at the start, but you can definitely lose a race at the start," Lotholz explained. "If you have a head start on everybody else, it means you can afford a couple mistakes on the way down. I was a brakewoman before jumping into the front seat…so obviously I can push fast, but I'm sometimes a bit of a smaller athlete so I always have to add more weight in my sled.
"We're building, for sure. The plan is to be competing in the World Cup this year and lining up against the best of the best in the sport, whereas last year I came back [from a hiatus] and had to re-qualify for that top World Cup position. The goal is not to be Canadian champion. The goal is more than that: World Cups, World Champs this year and Olympics in 2026."
Meanwhile Norton voiced his respect for Austin, who is essentially Canada's lead male bobsled pilot.
"Taylor's got a lot of talent on this track," said Norton. "He's got many runs and it's a home course for him. Even to be within a tenth [of a second] is a good sign for us. To get the win by one one-hundredth is a tip of my cap to Taylor. He really does carry the team here in terms of his knowledge for the track."
Added Bruggeling: "Today is really a tribute to the crew in general. One one-hundredth is not just us, but it's everything—the sled work and testing. And it's really the Norton show. I just push for the first five seconds."
Not too high, not too low
2024/25 might be another turbulent season for Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS) in the wake of president Tara McNeil resigning. The organization grapples with major financial difficulty, not unlike other national sport governing bodies, which has forced all Canadian bobsledders to self-fund their upcoming campaigns.
There have been other key departures too: former team members Leanna Garcia and Alexandra Klein now represent Spain and Romania respectively.
At the same time, bobsled grants a second chance to competitors who have plateaued in other sports. Lotholz was a former track and field athlete, for example, while Norton once played high-level hockey. Bruggeling plays wide receiver for the Canadian Football League's (CFL) Ottawa Redblacks, and Eskrick-Parkinson was previously a diver for Team Jamaica.
Three-time Olympian and former CFL running back Jesse Lumsden finds himself at the helm as BCS' new High-Performance Director.
Lyndon Rush, a driving coach and 2010 Olympic bronze medallist, sees potential in the whole roster from athletes to staff, but emphasized the importance of an even-keeled approach to sport.
"It is the Canadian Championships and that's really cool, but it actually helps us get ready for the international events we're going to be doing pretty soon—learning the procedures of how a race goes," Rush said. "Don't let your highs be too high and your lows be too low. Stay humble if you did really well, and maybe build yourself up a little if you did really poorly…but for [the next race] we need everyone to show up ready to perform."
