Werner makes World Cup debut
WITH an eye towards qualifying for Beijing 2022 in what would be her first Winter Olympics, 29-year-old Sydneysider Ashleigh Werner made a competitive World Cup series debut in Innsbruck last weekend.
She nailed two top 20 placings in the first of eight weekly World Cup rounds being held in Europe in women’s monobob and two-woman bobsleigh.
In a field of 28 sleds from 19 countries in the monobob on November 20, Werner came 19th, finishing just 1.47 seconds behind the winner, American Elana Mayers, and 1.22 seconds behind fellow Aussie Breeana Walker.
The following day as a pilot in the bobsleigh event, Werner (pictured at front) and teammate Kiara Reddingius finished as the highest placed Australians. They came 19th out of 24, reaching a top speed of 120.50kmh, and were only 1.25 seconds behind winners Laura Nolte and Leonie Fiebig of Germany, who are the current European and Junior World Championship title-holders. Fellow Aussies Walker and Sarah Blizzard came 22nd.
Round two of the World Cup series will be held later today, also in Innsbruck, before the series heads to Altenberg in Germany.
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