From Sigulda, LAT
(January 1, 2022) – Christine de Bruin dominated the women’s monobob race in Sigulda, smashing the track record twice on her way to victory.
The Canadian pilot set the track record twice on her way to a .56 second victory over Australian monobob specialist Breeana Walker. In the first run, de Bruin lowered the track record to a 54.35 from a 54.58 set by Yooran Kim in a European Cup race a few weeks prior. The track was significantly faster in the second heat and de Bruin dropped the record once again, down to a 53.77.
Walker, who won silver, set the start record in the first heat with a 5.62 start time.
Russia’s Nadezhda Sergeeva finished with a bronze medal, just .02 behind Walker. Sergeeva was quick off the top in both heats, only .01 off of the start record set by Walker.
The Chinese bobsled team had a great showing in Sigulda, with Mingming Huai and Qing Ying posting career-best finishes in fourth and fifth. Australia’s Ashleigh Werner finished sixth.
Behind de Bruin, Werner and Huai both had the second quickest runs with matching 54.00 downtimes. In the second run 13 of the 15 pilots were below Kim’s old track record.
The field for the first race of 2022 was smaller, with only 15 women taking part. Missing were all of the Germans, all of the Americans, and two of the Canadians. Only three of the top ten ranked women took part.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Christine de Bruin | CAN | 10 | 5.78 | 5.78 | 54.35 | 53.77 | 1:48.12 |
| 2 | Breeana Walker | AUS | 12 | 5.62 | 5.63 | 54.55 | 54.13 | 1:48.68 |
| 3 | Nadezhda Sergeeva | RUS | 11 | 5.65 | 5.63 | 54.68 | 54.02 | 1:48.70 |
| 4 | Mingming Huai | CHN | 6 | 5.76 | 5.73 | 54.74 | 54.00 | 1:48.74 |
| 5 | Qing Ying | CHN | 4 | 5.75 | 5.70 | 54.66 | 54.12 | 1:48.78 |
| 6 | Ashleigh Werner | AUS | 9 | 5.87 | 5.87 | 54.92 | 54.00 | 1:48.92 |
| 7 | Martina Fontanive | SUI | 1 | 5.88 | 5.83 | 54.89 | 54.17 | 1:49.06 |
| 8 | Katrin Beierl | AUT | 8 | 5.85 | 5.80 | 54.93 | 54.19 | 1:49.12 |
| 9 | Lubov Chernykh | RUS | 5 | 5.76 | 5.74 | 55.19 | 54.18 | 1:49.37 |
| 10 | Yooran Kim | KOR | 14 | 5.98 | 5.96 | 54.89 | 54.52 | 1:49.41 |
| 11 | Anastasiia Makarova | RUS | 7 | 5.84 | 5.80 | 55.01 | 54.47 | 1:49.48 |
| 12 | Andreea Grecu | ROU | 13 | 5.70 | 5.73 | 55.55 | 54.34 | 1:49.89 |
| 13 | Giada Andreutti | ITA | 15 | 6.14 | 6.11 | 55.59 | 54.49 | 1:50.08 |
| 14 | Viktoria Cernanska | SVK | 3 | 6.03 | 6.01 | 55.42 | 54.73 | 1:50.15 |
| 15 | Lidiia Hunko | UKR | 2 | 6.24 | 6.28 | 56.33 | 55.10 | 1:51.43 |
