Canadian bobsleigh team shows its medal(s) at World Cup races in Whistler
Bianca Ribi has spent the past few years honing her bobsleigh driving skills so that she could one day compete on the world stage.
All that hard work paid off over the weekend in Whistler, B.C.
Ribi was competing in her first World Cup monobob race and she beat them all.
Winning the gold medal was a huge thrill for the Calgarian and she says doing it in front of friends and family, who had flown in from Calgary, made it even better.
"It was quite a surreal feeling to even be in the race," said the 26-year-old.
"I had no expectations of winning. I was just hoping to be able to lay down a couple of solid runs and do my country and my family proud. Coming out with the gold was totally unexpected and honestly more than I could have ever dreamed of."
MIXING IT UP WITH THE WORLD'S BEST
Ribi's two-run combined time was 1:50.89 and that was enough to beat the rest of the field.
Ribi is part of the new generation of Canadian women's bobsleigh pilots and she says being able to mix it up with the best in the world will do wonders for her confidence.
"Going forward for the rest of the season but even a great kick-start to my career to believe that I've put in the time and the work and I deserve to be where I'm at today and just keep building every week to get better. I'm still young and I've got a lot to learn but I'm very excited," said Ribi.
MORE MEDALS FOR CANADA
What made the weekend even more special is Ribi shared the podium with another Canadian – Toronto's Cynthia Appiah won silver.
As for the men, it was also a big weekend for Calgary's Taylor Austin and his four-man crew of Shaquille Murray-Lawrence, Cyrus Gray and Davidson de Souza.
The Canadians shocked the world as they slid to a bronze medal.
It was the team’s first career bobsleigh World Cup medal.
The Canadian sled rocketed down the Whistler track to a two-run time of 1:42.37.
Austin says it was a huge thrill to medal.
"To be honest, I'm still processing," said the 32-year-old.
"Obviously, last year we won a lot of races on the development circuit, so I kind of got accustomed to being on the podium. For me to be up there, it really didn't faze me too much. But since we've won, it’s kind of really hit me that this is a massive, massive feat."
The podium performance secured Austin a full-time spot on the national bobsleigh team.
The Canadian team is in Park City, Utah, this weekend for more World Cup racing.
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