Driver Alan Henderson and his previously over-size brakeman, Matt Dallow, were on top of the podium in Calgary, Canada, after a FIBT America's Cup two-man event yesterday.
In the process they broke the New Zealand record for push time by one one-hundredth of a second with 5.26sec.
Two time Winter Olympic bobsledder Angus Ross, from the New Zealand Academy of Sport, described it as "a fantastic result".
In previous two-man bob races in the lower-tier America's Cup this northern winter New Zealand had finished seventh and fourth at Lake Placid (from 11-strong fields) and recorded two eighths at Park City in fields of 13.
Ross said that Aucklander Dallow had been unable to make the weight and a much smaller brakeman in Canterbury's Aaron Orangi had been stepping in.
The weight limit for the two-man event was 390kg _ for the sled and occupants combined.
New Zealand had a fairly heavy sled, but Christchurch man Milton Bloomfield had sent over some kevlar parts that he had made lighter for them.
Bloomfield designed the bike with which cyclist Sarah Ulmer won OIympic gold at Athens.
"With Milton's parts that arrived last week and a bit of dieting they've managed to get the big guy in the sled," Ross said.
The 110kg Dallow had lost 4kg this week.
Ross said that he had just received an email from the brakeman. "He said they made weight by 200 grams - no gloves, no socks, no undies, and a very empty sled with sawn-off brake handles. "They really just squeaked under the weight limit, so that's fantastic."
New Zealand's previous best bobsleigh result was the second place by the two-man team of Darryl Fergus and Nigel Avery in an America's Cup event in 1993, also in Calgary. Naila Hassan and Tasha Williams also placed third in the America's Cup two-man bob at Park City last year.
The two-man crew will race again at Calgary today with America's Cup four-man races at the weekend.
Ross has been working as the sports science strength and con- ditioning co-ordinator for the New Zealand Winter Olympic Performance Programme.
He said the America's Cup win would not directly help the Kiwis qualify for the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, with that requiring a top result in the Challenge Cup race in January. "But after that result with that push time I think that'll be a formality for them in the field that they've got to beat."
Ross said the four-man team of Henderson, Dallow, Steve Harrison and Orangi had been struggling in the last couple of weeks with crewman Harrison having an injured knee. "He's just been sitting in the sled without pushing at all, because they need to get these (America's Cup) races in to qualify for other races."
Harrison would get an MRI scan on his knee. "But they haven't got a reserve over there, so he's had to just bite the bullet."