Lilydale residents eager to catch Bree Walker take to the bobsleigh track once again should be prepared for a late one, as she will be shown on screens at 11pm tonight.
Competing over Friday and Saturday nights, Bree and her partner Kiara Reddingius enter the race full of confidence, fresh off Bree’s best ever Australian Olympic bobsleigh finish of fifth in the women’s monobob.
After a challenging training session on Tuesday, the pair had Wednesday to recuperate, before returning and laying down top-10 times in Thursday’s final training sessions, shaving almost a second off their times from earlier in the week.
“Training was really good today, we’re feeling much better,” Bree said.
“It can be hard transitioning from mono to two-woman, particularly when you do so much mono – the feel is completely different. We’re much quicker and have to adjust the steering accordingly.
“We had yesterday off for some rest and recovery, and I got my two-woman hands back today. We’re both in really good form and today was a big confidence booster.
Kiara was ecstatic to make her Olympic debut.
“This whole bobsleigh journey for me has been a very steep learning curve that only started this season,” Kiara said. “I’m learning very, very quickly, but every week is completely different.
“It’s another ‘wow moment’ seeing a brand new track. A lot of nations around the world are willing to help us – I don’t know if it is because we are such a small bobsleigh nation – and everyone wants to see the Aussies succeed, especially in a sport like bobsleigh.
“I’ve had so much support from all the international teams. They watch my technique and helped me learn and adapt and give me advice and it’s been super helpful.”
Bree said she is thrilled to be part of an inspiring group of winter athletes.
“It’s really exciting to be a part of that elite group of Australian winter athletes who are doing so well this season,” Bree said.
“That’s been a big message for me, that I’ve wanted to show Australians at home that we can be successful in winter sports. We are not known for our winter sports but we sure as hell can hold our own out there in the world.”
The duo will take to the Yanqing sliding track at 11:00pm AEDT on Friday through Channel 7 or 7plus to launch their two-woman campaign, which finishes on Saturday evening.
