Swiss win 2-man bobsled race, Canadians 6th

Former overall World Cup champion Beat Hefti and Thomas Lamparter of Switzerland won the opening two-man bobsled race of the season on the Olympia track in Igls, Austria, Saturday.

Canada's Lyndon Rush and Jesse Lumsden were sixth in their first race together.

Hefti and Lamparter won with a combined time of one minute 44.24 +seconds.

Rush, from Humboldt, Sask., and Lumsden, from Burlington, Ont., finished in 1:44.96.

"It was a good day in an extremely competitive race," said Canada's head coach Tom Delahunty. "Lyndon and Jesse have really good team dynamics and are a very strong pair that work well together.

"Rush had his fastest start today in Igls so it was a good sign today."

Calgary's Chris Spring and Toronto's Tim Randall, competing in their first full World Cup season, finished 13th in the Canada 2 sled.

Germany's Thomas Florschuetz and Kevin Kuske were 0.12 behind the winners for silver. Steven Holcomb and Justin Olsen of the United States took third, another 0.06 off the pace.

The World Cup bobsled event on the Olympia track concludes with a four-man race on Sunday.