YANQING, China (Reuters) - American Kylie Humphries led halfway during the first Olympic monopop event in Yanqing, as the two-time gold medalist opened a massive 1.04-second gap between her and Canada's Christine De Bruyne. per second.
Monobob is one of seven new events at the Beijing Olympics and the only one dedicated to women only, in which female sledges propel 130 kg (286 lb) as fast as possible before jumping and sliding on an ice rink at speeds of up to 120 km/h. (75 mph).
"Monopop is probably the toughest sliding event," said Jasmine Finnator Victorian of Jamaica, speaking after her first two races on Sunday.
"The sled weighs about the same as a two-person sled, but one person has to push it, and they have to sail the drive down."
“You don't have that weight and mass, it's like a Porsche skidding on ice, gliding in water, and you have to have a lot of dexterity - you can't do much, you can do little, it's not. Answer the same question, everyone in the business is learning. This sport at the same time."
This would be Humphries' first gold for the US - his previous two were with his native Canada - but he changed teams and citizenship after filing a harassment complaint
As the World Cup Champion in the two-women monobob and bobsleigh events, she was the favorite to enter the race.
"I know what it means to represent the United States," he told reporters. "I am very proud and honored to be here because nothing is guaranteed in life."
Germany's Laura Nolte was 1.22 seconds behind the third-place finisher, and still had a chance of winning seven of the seven golds for her country.
The drivers were trying to adjust to a cooler track at Yanqing National Ski Center on Sunday morning, with temperatures dropping to -7 degrees Celsius compared to positive numbers on previous days.
The inclusion of monopop was intended to increase the number of female athletes allowed to compete in Beijing's bobsleigh events, which now stands at 124 for men and 46 for women.
It also aims to reduce the cost of sharing, with identical monocoques in design and costing around 40,000 euros ($45,400), well below the 75,000 euros or more for a two-person sled.
However, 14 of the 20 monobob riders also compete in the women's event, in part because the event's quota system awards additional points to other field participants.
Finlator Victorian said the sport needs to do more to increase diversity.
"I think the intent is there, but the execution has failed, the system has let us down as athletes... We really need to step back and think about the goal."
Akwasi Frimpong of Ghana and Simedel Adigebo of Nigeria competed in the 2018 Olympics thanks to the IBSF continental quota system.
However, the system was removed before the Beijing Olympics, and the sport of figure skating was left without African representation.
“Unfortunately, it turns out that if you have the money and you live in a certain area, you get the benefits and of course that will always happen, but how do we level the playing field enough so that people can at least try the sport,” Finlator Victorian said.
Comments
Post a Comment