Lyndon Rush and the Canada-1 sled are sitting in second place after the first day of the four-man bobsleigh event in the Vancouver Olympics.
Rush, of Humboldt, Sask., alongside Chris Le Bihan and Lascelles Brown of Calgary, and David Bissett of Edmonton, finished with a time of 1:42.15 after the first two heats.
Steven Holcomb and his American crew set a track record of 50.86 seconds in the second run to lead the competition at 1:41.75, four hundredths of a second faster than Rush’s team.
The other Canadian sled, led by Edmontonian Pierre Lueders, finished in sixth position, with a combined time of 1:42.56. The veteran had two teams ahead of him crash before his run and was not content about it.
As a result of the accidents, Lueders, along with teammates Jesse Lumsden and Neville Wright of Edmonton, and Justin Kripps of Summerland, B.C., was forced to wait approximately 10 minutes for the track to be cleared.
“Hey, I’m as pissed off as Pierre is,” said Lumsden to CTV. “I’m just willing to stop and talk to you guys [media]. I mean, the guys are okay, but it chews up the ice for us. You’re ready to go and then you’re stopped. You have to go sit down for 10 minutes.”
German Andre Lange, who won the two-man bobsleigh event last Sunday, is in third place with a time of 1:42.19.
Lange, gold medalist in Torino 2006 and the most decorated bobsledder in the history of the Olympic games, almost crashed in corner 13 during his second run, but was able to control the sled and finish the course.
A total of six sleds flipped during the competition.
Heat three and the medal event are set to take place on Saturday, February 27th.
