The bobsleigh pilots have one less competition in St. Moritz than planned. The monobob race was canceled at short notice so that training in the four-man bobsleigh could take place.
The World Cup weekend in the mecca of bobsleigh sports – St. Moritz in the Swiss Engadine – was actually supposed to open on Saturday (January 11th, 2025) with the monobob competition, but the schedule had to be thrown out at short notice.
As the world association IBSF announced, the monobob decision was canceled. Background: The four-man bobsleigh training planned for Friday had to be canceled due to high temperatures and will be rescheduled for Saturday.
As a result, the decision in the men’s two-man bobsleigh was brought forward. Instead of 1 p.m. as planned, Francesco Friedrich and Co. race through the ice track from 9 a.m.
Bitter for the women for the German aces Laura Nolte (BSC Winterberg), Lisa Buckwitz (BRC Thuringia) and Kim Kalicki (TuS Eintracht Wiesbaden), who will now only compete in the two-man bobsleigh on Sunday (January 12, 2025) instead of the planned two races on the natural ice rink have the chance to win World Cup points.
Lisa Buckwitz leads the overall monobob ranking.
Only natural ice rink in the world
The rink in St. Moritz is the only natural ice rink in the world. It is rebuilt every year by South Tyrolean specialists. The experts need almost three weeks to do this. The unique driving results from the natural ice; it is “very quiet” and “completely different” than on the artificial ice rinks, say the athletes. The over 300 days of sunshine a year round off the unique atmosphere in Switzerland – but the sunshine may have put a damper on the bobsleigh pilots’ good mood for a short time.