BOBSLEIGH: Heath Spence and Duncan Harvey got Australia’s Bobsleigh campaign underway at the Sanki Sliding Centre on Sunday night.
BOBSLEIGH: Heath Spence and Duncan Harvey got Australia’s Bobsleigh campaign underway at the Sanki Sliding Centre on Sunday night.
The Australians completed both runs in their stunning green and gold sled and are sitting in 26th place after the first day of the 2-day competition. Their combined time of 1:55.95 is 3.13 seconds behind Alexander Zubkov driving Russia-1 and 1.16 seconds off the important top 20.
Unfortunately Run 1 didn’t go how the Australians had hoped with a time of 57.96 seconds. Spence, 33 and on Olympic debut, had to fight to keep the sled from tipping after a mistake on corner seven, midway through the track.
“The first was probably the worst run I’ve had all week,” a frustrated Spence said.
“Corner 7 is a tricky corner and it is a tricky track. You’re looking at the best drivers in the world that are making this look pretty easy. I made one mistake and it at that speed it is costly.
“I felt good on the first run but I just made one mistake and that one mistake cost a lot of time which took us out of the top 20.”
The pair was visibly disappointed after that run, with their training rankings consistently inside the top 20 and a recent of 57.37 seconds showing what they are capable of.
As the fog rolled in and the track became frosty the pair were looking for improvement for run 2. To their credit that is what they delivered.
While the majority of the field was a few tenths of a second slower in run 2 the Australians comparatively had a better run as they were only 0.03 seconds slower than their first attempt with 57.99s. Their start time was similar at 5.08s but their maximum speed was faster at 128.3km/hr.
“The second run was good but the track is deteriorating and is a little bit frosty right now so that led to the slow times.
“By being out of the top 20 we had poor conditions on the second run which was a far better drive and it cost a lot of time due to the runner choice that we had.
“I am disappointed in myself, I made it up on the second one but what can I do.”
The pair, who both weigh over 100 kilograms, will now need a blistering run 3 on Monday to push into the top 20 and qualify for the fourth and final run that same night.
“We made up two places (on run 2) so we come back tomorrow and make up a couple more places and we go from there.
Harvey, 32, from Sydney was brakeman for Australia four years ago when the two-man team finished an equal Australian best of 22nd. Those Games were impacted by a heavy training crash and injuries so Harvey is seeking redemption at these Games.
Spence,33, missed out on Vancouver 2010 which prompted his move to Calgary in Canada to train all-year round to ensure selection for his Olympic debut in Sochi.
They have both worked so hard and given up so much with the whole bobsleigh squad to be here. Harvey had extra inspiration tonight with the name of his wife and kids on the back of his calves to help him power the push of the big sled.
"It reminds me what I am doing this for and it gives me a little extra to push harder," said the father of two.
At the top of the leaderboard after day 1 is the top Russian team. Russian sliders have excelled on their home track at these Games in Luge and Skeleton.
For this first Bobsleigh event Russia 1 set track record of 56.25 seconds on the first run. This combined with a mistake on run 2 by the favoured American pilot Steven Holcomb sits USA-1 in third, 0.36 seconds back. Switzerland’s number 1 team is currently second.
Australia’s best result at the Games in 2-man is 22nd at the 1998 Nagano, 2006 Torino and 2010 Vancouver Games.
Spence and Harvey will be joined by Lucas Mata and Gareth Nichols for the four-man next weekend on the last two days of the Games. Australia’s female 2-man team of Astrid Radjenovic and Jana Pittman start their two-day competition on Tuesday.
