Canada’s Lyndon Rush and Jesse Lumsden captured the overall World Cup two-man bobsleigh title despite finishing tied for fourth place in Sochi, Russia, Feb. 16.
Rush and Lumsden slid just shy of the medals after clocking a two-run time of 1:54.41 in their first competitive test on the 17-corner track that will be used for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
“I have always really wanted to win an overall title, and this feels great,” said the 32-year-old Rush.
“Big thanks to Jesse and Lascelles (Brown) for the great starts and to all the members of the team that worked so hard for this all year. The Sochi track is awesome. Everything about it is big and impressive. It is by far the nicest facility on tour,” he said in a Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton news release.
Rush teamed up with two of the most powerful brakemen on the planet in Lumsden and Brown to rack up two World Cup victories and four podium finishes enroute to winning his first overall title. Rush and Lumsden have six career World Cup medals together, including three victories, in addition to sliding to the silver medal at last year’s World Championships.
Rush, a runner-up last season at the world championships, finished 54 points ahead of Latvia’s Oskars Melbardis for the title. Germany’s Manuel Machata was third, 152 points back.
“It is a great way to finish off the two-man season. It truly was a team effort this year,” said Lumsden. “Lascelles and I both pushed Team Rush onto the podium, and Lyndon was awesome navigating the tracks. I am very proud of what we accomplished.”
The following day Rush, teamed with Lumsden, Brown and Neville Wright finished in 17th spot in the four man bobsleigh event with a combined two run time of 1:53.44 which was just 1.15 second behind the winning Latvian team piloted by Oskars Melbardis which clocked a time of 1:52.29.