Jeff Zillgitt

USA TODAY Sports

Lolo Jones' push to make the U.S. bobsled Olympic team for Sochi received a boost with a silver-medal performance in pilot Elana Meyers' sled Sunday in a World Cup race in Winterberg, Germany.

It was the second podium finish this season for Jones, the track and field star who is competing with Aja Evans, Katie Eberling, Lauryn Williams, another track and field star, and Emily Azevedo for one of the three brakemen spots in Russia. The Olympic team will be announced Jan. 19.

It was Jones' third race and first time racing with Meyers this season. The U.S. bobsled coaching staff has placed brakemen with different pilots in an attempt to find the best combinations. The U.S. has a deep field of brakemen and a talented athlete will be left not make the team.

Meyers also strengthened her position as a medal favorite in Sochi. She has medaled in every World Cup race this season – three silvers and two golds – and a podium finish on a tough European track proved she is able to excel outside of North America.

Meyers and Jones overcame a bad start in the first heat and finished just one-hundredth of a second behind winners Sandra Kiriasis and Franziska Fritz of Germany.

"I feel good with the outcome, but I don't feel great about my performance," Meyers said. "I watched my runs after the race and realized that no one had perfect runs today, so it made me feel a little better. I'm still not happy with my runs, but I'm definitely satisfied with a medal."

Germany's Anja Schneiderheinze and Stephanie Schneider were third, and USA pilot Jamie Greubel, with Evans as her brakeman, was fourth after having the best time in the first of two heats. Pilot Jazmine Fenlator was ninth with Williams as her brakeman.

Meyers and Jones, who finished second with Greubel in Park City earlier this season, were fifth after the first heat but had the fastest overall time and fastest push start in the second heat to climb three spots and finish with a silver. Meyers made an error on the push in the first heat, costing the Americans a potential gold.

"I made a mistake on the first push by running too short," Meyers said. "Lolo followed me like a good brakeman should, and it resulted in a slower push."

The push time of 5.52 seconds for Meyers and Jones was the second-fastest start in the two heats, just behind the 5.51 posted by Canada's Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, who finished fifth overall.

The combined start times of 11.16 seconds for Meyers and Jones were tied with the combined times of Greubel and Evans and a split second faster than the combined times Fenlator and Williams posted (11.21).

"Lolo definitely showed her fight by dropping a few hundredths in the second heat," Meyers said. "Coming back and doing that is impressive. I felt better about my drive, but I still have a lot of room to gain time on these tracks."

Meyers remains the overall World Cup leader with 1,080 points, ahead of Humphries (1,012), Greubel (1,002) and Kiriasis (889).

World Cup bobsled racing continues next weekend in St. Moritz, Switzerland.