Skeleton
IBSF / Viesturs Lacis
In Winterberg in the seventh and penultimate round of the Skeleton World Cup, Martins Dukurs writes another page in the history of this sport. The Latvian champion, signing the best time in the only race valid for the purposes of the classification, hits the success number 60 in the maximum skeleton circuit, thus becoming the second man in the history of the gut disciplines (bobsleigh, skeleton and luge) to hit such an incredible achievement.
Friday 7 January 2022 7 minutes reading time
In fact, it was "enough" for the greatest athlete in the history of this sport to be in front of everyone in the second and only descent considered valid by the jury, ahead of the German Axel Jungk by just 1 cent and the Russian Alexander Tretiakov by five cents. To tell the truth, the latter had set the best time in the first round, but the judges, under pressure from the German team, decided to cancel the result of the opening heat because the track staff had broken the rules, deciding to clean the track after the passage of 9 athletes instead of after every 3 as required by international regulations.
At this point, a sprint race was staged that partly mixed the values on the field. Dukurs, who in the opening descent had paid a delay of 26/100 from the top, achieved the second success of the season, but who really benefited from the cancellation of the first round was the German team with the aforementioned Jungk who from eighth is jumped to second place, with Gassner who from eleventh found himself in fourth position and with Grotheer who finished ninth from eleventh.
Despite the progress of the Teutonics, today's victory allowed Martins Dukurs to take the lead in the general classification by overtaking Jungk and above all Christopher Grotheer who wore the leader's yellow bib in one fell swoop. With one race remaining in the season, Dukurs leads with a margin of 39 points ahead of Jungk and with 51 points over Grotheer, and barring sensational twists, he seems destined to conquer his 11th career Crystal Ball.
Great regret in Casa Italia for the cancellation of the first heat. Amedeo Bagnis had in fact signed the seventh part time, taking only 12 cents from the provisional podium, disputing perhaps the best descent of his career in the World Cup. The Vercelli in the second run was unable to repeat himself, however, finishing in an honorable 13th place, two positions ahead of Mattia Gaspari who, on the other hand, in the first round had committed a few too many smudges, finishing 17th. Thanks to these good results and by virtue of the counter-performances of the British team, Italy continues to earn important points in the international ranking, nurturing the dream of qualifying two athletes for the Beijing Olympic Games.
In the women's race held over the distance of the canonical two heats, the second triumph of the season for the Dutch Kimberley Bos arrived. The orange athlete, thanks to an extraordinary first descent in which she literally "paved" all the other opponents trimming very heavy gaps, has shown that she has a particular feeling with the Winterberg track, taking with great merit the second career victory that projects her. increasingly leading the overall standings of the Cup, when there is only one race left at the end of the season.
Second position 24/100 from the top, for the German Jacqueline Loelling who on the track where she grew up has finally shown all her talent, taking that very important podium for the Olympic qualification. Third place for Elena Nikitina who returns to the top 3 after four races, fourth an increasingly convincing Kanakina and fifth with many regrets the blue Valentina Margaglio author once again of the best time in the heats in the final descent that must complain for too many mistakes made during the first descent, without which the Alexandrian would have probably been able to get back on the podium ... Twenty-second blue at the start, Alessandra Fumagalli who replaced Alessia Crippa engaged in Altenberg in the Intercontinental Cup.
The skeleton World Cup will be held for next weekend with the last race of the calendar scheduled on the splendid Sankt Moritz track, where the European titles will also be awarded and where above all the sums will be drawn in terms of Olympic qualification.
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