Winter Olympics 2022 - Medal chances over for GB in two-woman bobsleigh, as Germany’s Nolte leads after two heats

Team GB’s Mica McNeill and Montell Douglas will not challenge for medals in the two-woman bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, after they finished a disappointing opening day 19th in the standings, with Germany again on course to take gold. Pilot Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi will take a 0.50-second lead over fellow German Mariama Jamanka going into day two, with Elana Meyers Taylor of the USA sitting third, 0.74 seconds off top spot.

Ad/> McNeill and Douglas — who is back in Beijing 14 years after competing in China as a sprinter at the 2008 Olympics — went into the competition looking in good form, after a second-place finish at a World Cup in Sigulda last month. They combined with decent times during the training runs, but finished the opening day second from bottom of the standings.

Beijing 2022'I feel really blessed to be here' — Douglas making history by competing at Summer and Winter GamesYESTERDAY AT 21:25 Germany’s world bronze medallist Nolte, with five World Cup victories this season, lay down an early marker in the first heat with a run of 1:01.04 — a track record. It proved to be a difficult time to topple, with world champion and three-time Olympic gold medallist Humphries sitting second but 0.37 seconds behind after her run.

Her US team-mate Meyers Taylor, chasing her first Olympic gold, ate into the German sled’s lead to go above Humphries and 0.22 seconds back from Nolte. Next up was reigning champion Jamanka, competing with Tokyo 2020 sprinter Alexandra Burghardt.

A mistake early on cost her a chance to take the lead but she recovered to cross the line just 0.06 seconds back from her German team-mate Nolte. McNeill had to wait a long time to get on the course as the third from last team to go,