The hopes of Breeana Walker and Kiara Reddingius were high on the back of a stellar third run in the two-woman bobsleigh at the Beijing Olympics, but the Australians capitulated in the final heat to tumble to a 16th-placed finish.
The team, piloted by Walker and pushed by Reddingius, managed to score just 1:02.51 in the final heat, recording the slowest time of their four runs as they were outdone by all other 19 teams.
They had returned for day 15 sitting in 12th, before improving to 11th in a shining run of 1:02.04 in the third heat, but their disappointing final tilt followed.
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The German team consisting of Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi took gold, the German team run by Mariama Jamanka and Alexandra Burghardt clinched silver, and the USA team of Elana Taylor Meyers and Sylvia Hoffaman collected bronze.
Walker and Reddingius had taken to the Beijing Games hoping to secure a top-10 finish, which would have eclipsed Australia’s best-ever performance in the event at a Winter Olympics: 14th.
“I don’t have words, I don’t have emotions,” Walker told Seven moments after the final standings were revealed.
“It’s been a huge campaign, I’m so grateful for our team, we’ve worked really hard. I’m disappointed with my last run, especially, but I couldn’t have done the results that we’ve done here without the team. So thanks to everyone.”
Reddingius said she was “really proud” of the Olympic campaign.
“The thing I really like about Bree is she’s willing to risk it,” Reddingius added.
“She’s willing to chuck herself out there to try and find the fast line. It didn’t quite work out in the last run … But I’m just so proud of what we put down. We gave every single part of ourselves to this experience and to this journey. You can’t be more proud of that and you can’t be more happy about that.”
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