Corie Mapp becomes first Briton to win European Para-bobsleigh title
- Published
Corie Mapp is leading the overall World Cup Para-bobsleigh standings after three victories and a second-place finish in the opening four races of the season
Corie Mapp has become the first Briton to claim a European Para-bobsleigh title.
The 41-year-old former soldier won back-to-back races in the latest leg of the World Cup series in Oberhof, Germany, on Friday and Saturday.
The second race of the weekend also doubled as the European Championship.
"I feel extremely proud to represent the country in my small way and even more proud to be European champion," said Mapp.
The rider born in Barbados finished Friday's race in one minute 29.12 seconds, 0.23 secs ahead of Latvia's Arturs Klots, with Castillo Guillermo, of the United States, finishing third.
Europeans claimed the top four places in Saturday's race, as they battled it out for the continental title, but Mapp held off his rivals, winning in a time of 1:33.06.
Switzerland's Christopher Stewart was second, 0.36secs behind, with Klots taking third place.
Mapp's two victories maintained a superb start to the 2019-20 World Cup season, after he claimed first- and second-place finishes in the opening two races in Lillehammer, Norway, the previous weekend.
The 2018 overall World Cup winner, who lost both legs in an explosion while serving in Afghanistan in 2010, extended his lead at the top of this season's standings to 82 points over Canada's reigning champion Lonnie Bissonnette.
"This week was a fantastic week. It was the culmination of an amazing year of sliding and a great start to the season so far," said Mapp, who won overall bronze in the 2019 World Cup and has also represented Great Britain at sitting volleyball and at the Invictus Games.
"It's always amazing to have your anthem played in your honour. Now it's home for a break to reflect and recharge to come back for successful second half of the season."
The World Cup season resumes with two more races in St Moritz, Switzerland, on 24-25 January, and concludes with double-headers in Lake Placid and Park City in the United States in February.
Racing then returns to Lillehammer in March for the World Championships, when Mapp will be hoping to go one better than the silver medal he won in Lake Placid earlier this year.
The sport is not part of the programme for the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing after the International Paralympic Committee said it had failed to meet the criteria for admission., external