Aussie Bree Walker facing major climb for gold in women's monobob after first heat setback
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Aussie Bree Walker faces an uphill battle to claim gold in the women's monobob after a damaging first heat at Milano Cortina 2026.
Walker finished 11th out of 25 with a time of 1:00.19, having lost time on the fourth turn in her second run after coming close to hitting the woodwork.
"Not the run she was after," caller Brenton Speed said on Nine.
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Overall her time was 0.75 seconds from first.
"Not ideal, but plenty to learn from and I'm sure she'll know exactly what to do to fix it," Australian skeleton great Jackie Narracott said.
Bree Walker during the women's monobob. AP
In the second heat, Walker made up for her time with an aggressive run, finishing with a time of 1:00.01.
That time put her into first midway through the heat, overtaking Melissa Lotholz by 0.02.
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"I feel a lot better now then I did after the first heat," Walker told Nine after her second run.
"I made some weird mistakes in the first heat, so I knew I could fix them up and that I had to go out there and push as much as I could.
"You know, today is finished. We will go on to tomorrow and see how we go."
Liza Buckwitz overtook Walker during the heat but it was fellow German Laura Nolte taking top spot.
Nolte's time was 1:59.12 with Walker in seventh needing to make up 1.08 seconds to equal first.
Americans Elana Meyers Taylor and Kaillie Armbruster Humphries are first and second.
Walker is 0.22 behind second and 0.31 behind third.
"The track is really fast. It is making us work here," Walker said.
"This track - everyone is jumping around all over the place.
"We just have to keep going, keep the faith, and see what happens tomorrow."
The third and fourth heats of the women's monobob will return on February 17.
At the Beijing Winter Games in 2022, Walker finished fifth in the event. The result was Australia's best ever result in the bobsleigh but it could've been better considering Walker finished 10th in her first heat.
