Walker and Reddingius overcome injury 'tweak' for historic Olympic result

Overcoming a rollercoaster campaign and a hamstring "tweak", Bree Walker and Kiara Reddingius secured a historic top-10 finish in the two-woman bobsleigh at the Cortina sliding track on Sunday morning (AEDT).

The result marks Australia's best-ever Olympic performance in the event, a significant leap from their 16th-place finish at Beijing 2022.

Clocking 3:50.82 in their fourth and final run, the pair briefly occupied the leader's box before ultimately finishing 2.36 seconds off the gold-medal pace.

READ MORE: Audacious plan to cash in on Australia's winter golden generation

READ MORE: 'A new standard': Flagbearers for Australia's greatest team unveiled

READ MORE: Austrian bobsledder stretchered off after frightening crash

At the top of the standings, Team Germany clinched gold, extending its ice-cold dominance with a record 16th Olympic bobsleigh title.

Defending her crown, Germany's Laura Nolte retains her status as the queen of the two-woman bobsleigh. Alongside brakewoman Deborah Levi, the Beijing 2022 standout secured back-to-back Olympic gold.

Fellow Germans Lisa Buckwitz and Neele Schuten claimed silver, while the American duo of Kaillie Humphries and Jasmine Jones took home bronze.

Speaking to Nine afterwards, Walker and Reddingius beamed with pride, having achieved their goal of a top-10 finish.

Watch the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026 live and free on Channel 9 and 9Now. Plus, every event live & on demand, every medal in 4K, and exclusive international coverage on Stan Sport.

"I'm completely stoked with this race. We've had a pretty tough two-man season, so I'm so happy," Walker said.

The pair endured a difficult lead-in to their historic Olympic finish, made even more difficult by a physical setback on Saturday morning.

"We did it," Reddingius added through tears.

"It's really special. I got a bit of a hammy tweak yesterday in the second push. So, we've strapped my legs — [they're] pretty much tape at this point.

"But I'm just so proud of Bree's driving and proud of how we got through this season and this whole Olympics, really.

"I couldn't be more proud to stand by anybody else."

Adding to the drama in Cortina, heavy snowfall caused such significant accumulation on the roof that organisers feared it might slide off onto the spectators below.

With these safety concerns, the athletes' supporters were ushered down from the upper grandstands and relocated into the finishing area.

This shift resulted in a heartwarming surprise for the competitors, who were greeted by their loved ones at the finish line to celebrate the conclusion of their final run.

"I looked to the left, and I was like, 'Oh, the shades are shut'. And then I just looked over, and I saw my family, and I saw my sister starting to cry," Walker said.

"I was just like, 'Oh my God. This couldn't be more perfect'.

"So, you won't be able to wipe the smile off my face for a while now.

Reddingius said: "We didn't know where the screaming was coming from for a while, and like in a sea of faces and then to see my family there was really special".

Following a frustrating effort in the monobob where a podium finish slipped away, Walker turned her disappointment into a vital learning experience.

"It was a really tough race in the mono, but we learned a lot," she said.

"I had my sled, sadly, completely set up, completely wrong, and it just couldn't allow me to do what I wanted to do.

"So, when I got into the two-man, I knew what I wanted to do, and I'm just so happy that I had a sled that was able to help me do it.

"And so, you know what? I believe there comes a time when everything just falls in line. We live and learn from our mistakes, so I'm all fine after this result."

Walker confirmed that her ambition has not waned and she will target a start at the next Games, French Alps 2030.

"I really would love to continue on to the French Alps, and the dream is still alive inside of me,"

"I have so many goals that I still want to achieve. I still haven't been able to achieve a world championship medal, an Olympic medal is obviously something that I really want to achieve, so I'm just going to have to go back to the drawing board and see what I can do [and] see if we can raise the funds to be able to get everything we need and hopefully keep my team together.

"I am definitely going to need Pierre [Ludas] to be able to stand on the top of the podium next Olympics."

Earlier, Australia's second duo, Sarah Blizzard and Desi Johnson, narrowly missed out on the final run, finishing 21st and falling just 0.02 seconds short of the top 20.