Sport
6 April, 2024
Record for bobsleigh star
CAIRNS’ bobsleigh superstar Bree Walker has wrapped up her most successful season to date with a win at the 2023/2024 BMW IBSF World Cup this March in Lake Placid, New York, USA, giving Australia its first victory for a female pilot in monobob.
After a strenuous season of eight World Cup competitions, Ms Walker finished with an overall silver medal and her first World Cup gold for her monobob performance in Lake Placid on March 22, setting a new track record of 59.22 seconds, ahead of American silver medallist Elana Meyers Taylor by 0.24 seconds and Canada’s Cynthia Appiah 0.46 seconds back in third place.
Having achieved one of her biggest challenges, Ms Walker has returned to Cairns to take a well deserved break and begin preparations for the next season and continue her journey toward the 2026 winter Olympics in Milano.
“It means so much to me to finish this season on a high with my first world cup win, it’s been a long time coming,” Ms Walker told Cairns Local News.
“I’ve achieved a lot of silvers and bronzes across the last two seasons on the world cup circuit in monobob and I’ve been so close to the win for so many times so to finally tick that box in the last race of the season was amazing.
“I was feeling really confident going into the race, I was very tired but I knew that if I capitalised on everything that I could do in that track that I could be very competitive and make it to the podium.”
Ms Walker said her efforts were paying off and everything was still on track to make it to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina.
“When I achieve something first I think that’s exciting, but when somebody tells me, ‘Oh that’s a first for Australia’, I’m shocked and it’s awesome. I’m very proud to represent Australia in the world stage and to be making history for our country,” she said.
“Our Olympic plan is progressing really well. We have certain stepping stones along the way, and we’ve achieved many of them and one that I’m aiming for is a world championship medal. I’ve come close twice in fourth place but I’ve really developed from those experiences.
“I want to thank my sponsor ResPax (Cairns travel tech company) for making a lot of this possible for me and for younger athletes in Cairns I want to say – think outside the box – maybe your talents and your Olympic dreams lie somewhere else like in a winter sport as it was for me.”
Ms Walker will kick off her 2024/25 season in October.
