Olympics: NZ bobsleigh pair 'stoked'

New Zealand bobsleigh pair Alan Henderson and Mark Edmond were "stoked" with their first two runs at the Winter Olympics yesterday, which have left them 20th at the halfway stage of their contest.

Henderson, based in London, and Edmond, of Christchurch, have a combined time of 1m 32.86s after two runs, to trail Swiss leaders Christian Reich and Steve Anderhub by 0.84s.

Geoff Balme, New Zealand's chef de mission at the Salt Lake City Games, said Henderson and Edmond were delighted to be almost in the top half of the field of 37.

They had so far performed well above their world ranking. The final two runs will be held today (New Zealand time).

"They were pretty stoked," Balme said.

Henderson, at his second Games in the bobsleigh, has a new brakeman for the event, after Edmond took over from the injured Matt Dallow this week.

The pair were ranked 24th in the field for both their starts, but Henderson drove smoothly, particularly in the last half of the second run, to help boost their ranking.

- NZPA