ALTENBERG, Germany: Kaillie Humphries and Lolo Jones of the United States are the leaders at the midway point of the womens bobsled world championship.
Humphries drove to the fastest time in each of the two runs Friday, she and Jones finishing with a combined time of 1 minute, 52.94 seconds. That puts them 0.34 seconds ahead of the German sled driven by Kim Kalicki and pushed by Ann-Christin Strack.
Another German sled, driven by Laura Nolte and pushed by Deborah Levi, is third, 0.43 seconds off the lead. The U.S. team of Elana Meyers Taylor and Sylvia Hoffman is fourth, 0.83 seconds back.
The final two runs are Saturday. Humphries is the defending world champion and seeking what would be a record fourth womens world title. She won on the same Altenberg track last season, with Kalicki second.
The two-man bobsled race starts Saturday. Unlike World Cups, which ordinarily are two-heat events, races at the bobsled and skeleton world championships are four-heat competitions.
The skeleton world championships are next Thursday and Friday, while the four-man race and the womens monobob race are both Feb. 13 and 14.
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