Olympic Bobsled 2014: Preview and Predictions for Women's Event

A day after the men decided the first medalists in bobsled, the women got their chance to chase the Olympic dream at the Sanki Sliding Center. 

Through two runs, the United States has two sleds in contention for the two-woman bobsled medal podium, while Canada, Belgium and Germany all have a sled near the top of the standings. 

Continue reading for a complete preview of how the second day on the sliding track will turn out for the women of bobsled. 

Just like the two-man bobsled competition, the women's discipline gives each sled four runs down the track, with the lowest combined time winning the gold. 

Unlike the 30 sleds entered in the two-man, only 19 competed during the first two runs on Tuesday. 

Wednesday will bring about another two runs with no sleds being eliminated, whereas the men's competition dwindled the field down from 30 to 20 after the third run. 

Competition at the Sanki Sliding Center will resume at 11:15 a.m. ET with the third run, which will see the same start order as the first two runs. 

The fourth run, where the lineup is determined by time, will begin at 12:25 p.m. ET.

Both heats can be seen live on NBCOlympics.com, with the television coverage of the event coming in prime time on NBC.

The United States women's bobsled team received a ton of attention because of the presence of Lolo Jones, but it was the two sleds without her that put in strong runs on Tuesday.

United States No. 1, piloted by Elana Meyers, took home the top spot in the standings with a combined time of 1 minute, 54.89 seconds. 

United States No. 2 with Jamie Greubel and Aja Evans on board, finished in third place with a combined time of 1:55.45. 

Sandwiched in between the two American sleds was Canada No. 1 with Kaillie Humphries in charge. She drove Canada No. 1 to victory in Vancouver, and her sled is seen as a major gold-medal threat. 

Complete standings after two runs can be found here.

Can United States Sleds Keep Up the Dominance? 

With two sleds in the top three, the United States will carry a big target on its back heading into Wednesday's final two runs. 

With all of the pressure on the shoulders of the athletes in United States No. 1 and No. 2, the final two runs will be worth watching to see if they can fend off the charge from the defending gold medalists in Canada No. 1. 

Can Canada No. 1 Make a Comeback and Repeat? 

Sitting 23 one-hundredths of a second behind United States No.1 is the gold-medal winning duo from Vancouver in Humphries and Heather Moyse. 

The Canadian pair will be gunning for the top spot and is  expected to make quite the surge. 

Will Lolo Jones Do Anything of Note?

Heading into the competition, Lolo Jones of the United States received a massive amount of press because of her shift to the sport as she searched for an Olympic medal.

After two runs, Jones and Jazmine Fenlator in United States No. 3 are 1.84 seconds behind in 11th place. 

Jones has responded to adversity before in track and field, so it will be interesting to see how she does under scrutiny in the final two runs as she sits far away from medal contention.

Belgium No. 1

With everyone talking about the star-studded top three, Belgium No. 1 could slip into a medal position with two solid runs. 

The pair of Elfje Willemsen and Hanna Emilie Marien are more than one-half of a second behind United States No. 2—a lead that some would deem insurmountable. 

Making up that difference will be difficult in two runs, but stranger things have happened before.

Germany No. 1 

Anytime a gold medalist from the past sits in fifth place after two runs, you have to at least bring her into the discussion for the medal podium.

That is the case with the Germany No. 1 sled driven by 2006 gold medalist Sandra Kiriasis. 

She and Franziska Fritz will look to surprise some people on Wednesday as they compete for the bronze medal, which is 56 one-hundredths of a second out of reach. 

United States No. 1 

Thanks to the stellar times on Tuesday, the pair of Meyers and Lauryn Williams must be considered the gold-medal favorites. 

The pair in United States No. 1 set the track record in the first heat with a run of 57.26, and in both runs the two American women have broken the start record at the Sanki Sliding Center. 

While it is tough to leave Canada No. 1 out of the gold-medal discussion, United States No. 1 has been faster and better so far. 

Gold: United States No. 1

Silver: Canada No. 1

Bronze: United States No. 2

The third and fourth runs should bring plenty of drama, with Canada No. 1 fighting for position against both United States sleds, but expect the Canadians to remain sandwiched in between the Americans when the event concludes. 

No one has been as fast as Meyers and Williams in United States No. 1, and as we saw in the men's event with Russia No. 1, the speed does not die down after one day of racing. 

Humphries is an experienced driver who will not slip up on the biggest of stages, which will leave United States No. 2 in third to collect bronze. 

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