By Canadian Press

Canada’s Cynthia Appiah captures her first monobob medal of the season

Feb 15, 2025 | 11:23 AM

LILLEHAMMER — Canada’s Cynthia Appiah captured her first monobob medal of the season, taking second in a World Cup event Saturday.

Appiah, of Toronto, claimed the winder medal with a two-run time of one minute 48.66 seconds over the 16-corner track.

“Finally,” Appiah said at the finish line. “This feels amazing.

“It’s been a frustrating season for me, similar to last year, waiting until the last World Cup to get on that podium. I’m choosing to look at it as a positive though, and that we are peaking right time before world championships. There is no better time for this than now.”

Appiah earned her 11th monobob medal but first since claiming bronze in the final race of last season in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Austrian Bree Walker finished first with a combine time of 1:48.51. Germany’s Lisa Buckwitz was third in 1:48.67.

Appiah appears to have found comfort on the Lillehammer track. She was fifth at the rare Norwegian stop one year ago and sixth last weekend.

“I really love this track in Lillehammer,” she said. “It’s a pusher’s track — easy to get down but hard to get down fast.

“I had an extra sense of confidence that I can put it together. Last week was an indication of that. With an extra week of training under my belt here, it gave me the confidence that I can win here.”

Melissa Lotholz of Barrhead, Alta., was seventh at 1:49.20 while Toronto’s Erica Voss was 13th in 1:49.68.

In the men’s event, Taylor Austin, of Lethbridge, Alta., and Mark Zanette, of Woodbridge, Ont., were 13th in 1:42.66, just ahead of the Ottawa team of Pat Norton and Mike Evelyn O’Higgins (1:42.73). Cyrus Gray of Duncan, B.C., and Toronto’s Shaq Murray-Lawrence were 20th in 1:43.83.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2025.

The Canadian Press