More spills as Canada takes bobsleigh gold

Canadian pair Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse won the women's Olympic bobsleigh gold Wednesday in a race marked by yet more spectacular spills on the Whistler track.

Fellow Canadians Helen Upperton and Shelly-Ann Brown took the silver with bronze going to Erin Pac and Elana Meyers of the United States as Humphries and Moyse won by a crushing 0.85sec as they timed 3min 32.28sec.

While Humphries and Moyse grabbed each other joyously and Canadian fans whooped it up after the host nation's seventh Games gold - on a par with the United States and Germany - Germany's Cathleen Martini and Romy Logsch hugged each other in sympathy after surviving a high-speed crash.

The German tandem had been on the brink of the podium after the third run behind Upperton and Brown but wobbled through curve 11 then came too fast out of curve 12 and overturned with Logsch flying out and sliding down the track as her bob careered towards the line.

British medal hopefuls Nicola Minichiello and Gillian Cooke also overturned, in their case on their third run and did not start the final heat.

The men's four-man event has also been marred by a series of crashes on the track which saw the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili in pre-Games training, prompting four bob quartets to pull out.

Canada had never previously won a medal in the women's discipline - which only made its Olympic debut in 2002.

But after Pac and Meyers lost ground in their final run Upperton and Brown were able to make it a 1-2 finish for the delirious hosts.

While Minichiello was left to nurse a bruised shoulder, a headache and bruised pride, the Germans - nine Olympic bob medals to date for their men and women - put in a poor showing as defending champion Sandra Kiriasis could only manage fourth - and only then owing to Martini's misfortune.