WHISTLER, British Columbia — Canada came as close as it could to sweeping the women's bobsled medals Wednesday night, but in the end had to settle for North America owning the podium.
For the first time in Olympic history all three medals in a bobsled event went to North American teams. Canada's Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse took gold and Canada's only other sled, Helen Upperton and Shelley-Ann Brown, took silver.
Erin Pac and Elana Meyers of the United States won bronze.
The Germany 2 sled was in contention for a medal, entering the final run 0.03 seconds out of third place but the sled crashed in turn 13 throwing breakman Romy Logsch from the sled.
Both Logsch and pilot Cathleen Minichiello appeared to be OK, waving to the crowd afterward.
Two more American teams rounded out the top six. Bree Schaaf and Emily Azevedo, who recently finished their first season on the World Cup circuit, were fifth. Shauna Rohbock and Michelle Rzepka, Team USA's top sled, finished sixth.
The final day of racing had three crashes, including the German sled. A Russian sled tipped low on the course and Great Britain's top sled crashed in the third heat with an aggressive run the sliders hoped would move them into medal contention.
"I'm devastated to be honest," British pilot Nicola Minichiello said. "It's everything we worked for and believed in. It's frustrating. This is the biggest stage in the world, but we went for it."
Hill reports for The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)
