BARRHEAD - Barrhead's Melissa Lotholz found herself on the podium for the first time as a pilot in the two-women race at the World Cup Bobsleigh Lillehammer, Norway, on Feb. 16 in the season's final World Cup circuit race.
She earned the medal in her 20th start as a pilot on the lesser North America Cup circuit. This is Lotholz's first full season as a pilot on Canada's senior national World Cup Circuit team.
However, medalling was the furthest thing on her mind going into the race.
"It was a very unlikely medal. Going into the weekend, we weren't hoping to be medal contenders," she said. "We just wanted to focus on the process."
Although Lotholz is an 11-year veteran of the National Bobsleigh program, it was the first time the 32-year-old had competed on the Lillehammer track.
"It was exciting. At this point in my career, you do not often have the opportunity to do something totally new," she said. "You can stand at the top of the track, walk it with the coaches and have a plan of what you want to do, but until you are in the sled feeling it out at speed, it is kind of a big puzzle."
Lotholz added that Lillehammer is unique.
"There's not a lot of pressure up top, and that can make driving a little trickier," she said.
The day before the two-woman race, Lotholz competed in the monobob, and while she had her best result of the season, finishing seventh, she felt she struggled.
"[Both of my monobob runs] were good, but not great, and there were some things on the track where I was like, 'I don't know how to do this corner well' and I just did not feel overly confident going into the two-women race."
Additionally, going into the race, Lotholz's regular brakeman, fellow Albertan and former University of Alberta track teammate Leah Walkeden pulled herself out of the race after battling an illness all week.
"She selflessly gave up her spot to Skylar Sieben to give us the best chance of success," she said. "It was a big sacrifice because she is paying to be out there just like the rest of us, yet she set aside her ambitions and cheered and celebrated us. I have so much gratitude for Leah and what she did."
Sieben, from Cochrane, is in her first year on the national team, coming into the sport from a hurdles and pentathlon background. The Feb. 16 race was the first time the pair had ever been in a bobsleigh together.
The morning of the race, Lotholz and Sieben studied push-start videos, rehearsed the timing for their push-starts and fine-tuned the sled.
And their efforts paid off.
"We were able to execute and find that rhythm and flow, and when we crossed the finish line, I had no idea where the run would put us, but I was really proud of our run," she said.
At the time, being the sixth sled down, their time of 52.08 seconds put them in second, but many of the top contenders still had to go. At the end of the run, Lotholz and Sieben dropped to third.
They then had an hour to wait before the next run.
"Which is a lot of time," Lotholz said. "The mental game is a huge aspect, and it can be difficult, especially if you are sitting in a medal position, to stay in the mental space you need to be in to perform your best."
Thankfully, she said, in her career, she had been in that position many times before, especially when she teamed with Kaillie Humphries as her breakman for 19 World Cup medals, including two silver at the World Championships.
"It's been a while since I've been in that position as a pilot and never at the World Cup level," Lotholz said.
Lotholz's last World Cup circuit medal came in 2017.
"As a pilot, you often set the tone for your team, and Skylar, as a rookie, was looking to me, and she did an excellent job of handling that pressure," she said.
The pair had another solid run their second time, but Lotholz thought she might have taken them out of medal contention when she "had a small skid between corners 12 and 13".
"I just assumed that we had fallen back, but then I saw the clock halfway up the braking section, and I saw the Number 1 beside our downtime, and I let out this scream of joy," she said. "I am so proud of Leah and Skylar because it was truly a team effort."
World Championships
Although the World Cup season is complete, Lotholz still has one more event. After a week off, Lotholz and the rest of Canada's sliding sports will head to Lake Placid, New York, for the World Championships.
"It's really an important event, especially with less than a year to go to the Olympics," she said.
She added that even though Canada's performance at the event will not impact the number of sleds, it will be able to send to the Olympics, it is important to keep up the momentum the team has built.
"I'm excited for our team. We've done a lot of rebuilding during this Olympic cycle. What we saw [at Lillehammer] with me medalling in the two-women event and Cynthia Appiah winning silver in the monobob is the momentum we need going into the Olympic season," she said.
But Lotholz said they will need the public's support to continue to build on these results.
She said cuts to the program's funding mean athletes are shouldering more and more of the logistical costs of competing.
Lotholz noted that between herself and Walkeden, they spent over $100,000 with the help of their sponsors to compete on the World Cup circuit.
"Without the help of sponsors like Stephani Motors, Fountain Tire and Comfort Corner and donations from individuals, I wouldn't be able to continue on my sporting journey," she said, adding they estimate that it will cost them an additional $10,000 to compete in the World Championships.
To help raise the money, Lotholz and Walkeden have partnered with EH Team Apparel and Love Jupiter and created a limited run of toques, with pickup locations in Edmonton and Calgary. The addresses to the locations are shown upon selection. People also have the option for direct shipping. For Barrhead residents pickup is at Stephani Motors.
Lotholz partnered with Road Brewery and Westkey Graphics to create a limited-run Gold Crush non-alcoholic beer.
"It's been really fun to work with these companies. We've come up with the toast 'Cheers to the Journey'," she said. "People can grab a can and buy a toque to support us."
Both the toques and the non-alcoholic beer are also available online. Visit Lotholz's website, www.mellotholz.com, for the links.
Those wanting to donate to Lotholz can also go to CanadaHelps.org, type in Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton into the search bar, click on the link and then select Lotholz's name from the dropdown menu.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
