Australians finish 16th in two-woman bobsleigh at Beijing Winter Olympics

Bree Walker and Kiara Reddingius have finished 16th in the two-woman bobsleigh event at Beijing 2022.

Sitting in 12th place heading into Saturday's final two runs, the Aussie pair recorded their second-fastest time of the competition in the third round, a 1:02.04, to sit 11th overall.

However, a disappointing final run of 1:02.51, their slowest of the entire competition so far, saw them slip back in the standings, 4.68 seconds behind the leaders.

Germany dominated the competition to win both gold and silver medals.

Laura Nolte, who finished fourth in the women's monobob earlier in the competition, recorded the fastest time in all but the last round to claim gold alongside Deborah Levi.

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They finished 0.77 seconds ahead of Mariama Jamanka and Alexandra Burghardt in the second German pairing.

American Elana Meyers Taylor, who won the silver medal in the monobob, claimed silver with brakewoman, Sylvia Hoffman.

Walker and Reddingius had a highest finishing position of seventh in the IBSF World Cup this season, so a medal was always a long shot.

However, 30-year-old Reddingius, from the small Western Australia town of Leonora, was reduced to tears on Friday after becoming an Olympian.

«I had this opportunity to come and try bobsleigh, the bobsleigh community has been something really special, I've had so much support,» Reddingius said.

«To be here is something that still blows my mind, now I'm an Olympian and I'm so proud.»