Win for Latvian Martins Dukurs puts him back on top
by eng.lsm.lvSkeleton athlete Martins Dukurs remained undefeated at the BMW International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation World Cup stage in St. Moritz, Switzerland, regaining the top position in the overall season ranking, according to event organizers on January 31.
M. Dukurs' total time for both runs set a personal best at 2:15.89 minutes. German Felix Keisinger came in 0.31 seconds behind, placing second, and fellow German Axel Jungk came in third. Latvian Tomass Dukurs tied for ninth place.
M. Dukurs had a flawless first run, and a great start and once again flawless execution on his second run, beating out the leader after the first run, Korean Sungbin Yun, who came in third. T. Dukurs was a bit slow at the beginning of his first run, but also had a good second run, except for a mistake at the lower end of the track.
After a previously unsuccessful stage M. Dukurs had fallen to second in the overall rankings behind Russian Alexander Tretiakov, who placed sixth in St. Moritz. The seventh stage of the season will continue on Saturday and Sunday with two-man and four-man bobsleigh.
The two-man bobsleigh team piloted by Ralfs Bērziņš won silver at the Junior European Championships U26 in Austria, while Dāvis Kaufmanis' team was first in the U23 age group, according to the Latvian Bobsleigh Federation on January 31.