With a time of 56.94 on the first run, Rohbock and Fleming gave themselves a large lead of 0.46 seconds over Canadians Helen Upperton and Jaime Cruickshank. With plenty of room to give on their second run, the American pair slid a time of 57.32 to claim an easy victory of nearly seven tenths of a second. With the first- and fourth-quickest starts, Rohbock and Fleming finished with a total time of 1:54.26.

“It’s a great start to the season and it’s very good for Shauna’s confidence,” U.S. women’s coach Sepp Plozza said. “Shauna and Val had great push times today and it was a nice win. I’m really looking forward to the World Cups in Park City and Lake Placid.”

Finishing second was the German team of Cathleen Martini and Janine Tischer in 1:54.95 (57.46, 57.49). In third was a German sled driven by Olympic and world champion Sandra Kiriasis of Germany with brakeman Romy Logsch in 1:54.98 (57.49, 57.49), while Upperton and Cruickshank fell to fourth with a combined time of 1:55.30 (57.40, 57.90).

With a time of 1:55.82 (57.80, 58.02), Germans Claudia Schramm and Stefanie Szczurek placed fifth, while in sixth was the Russian duo of Victoria Tokovaia and Olga Fedorova in 1:55.96 (57.78, 58.18).

“The women’s field is small, but the fastest pilots are here,” Plozza stated. “It’s just too bad that the small nations aren’t competing, but that’s always the case after the [Olympic Winter] Games. But that didn’t change anything because the best pilots and the biggest nations are always here.”

The Calgary World Cup women’s bobsled race will be televised nationally on SPEED Channel on Saturday, Dec. 9, at 1 p.m. EST. For complete results of today’s race, visit www.bobsleigh.com, the Web site of the Fédération International de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganning (FIBT). The next World Cup women’s race will be held Dec. 8 in Park City, Utah. Media interested in attending the Park City World Cup can contact Utah Olympic Park’s Jennifer Nichols at (435) 658-4247 or jennifer.nichols@olyparks.com.