Martins Dukurs started as the sixth, started three times in the curb, but at that time reached the best time out of six competitors – 56.05 seconds. After the finish of all 28 skeletonists, it turned out to be the third fastest time after two German athletes – Christopher Grother and Aksel Jungka – for whom the Latvian lost 0.28 and 0.18 seconds, respectively.
Thomas Dukurs made a good trip to the bottom of the track, where the inaccuracy after the 14th turn led to skeleton contact with both edges. He finished fourth in the race, losing 0.4 seconds to the leader. He was three hundredths of a second ahead of British Matt Weston, but the sixth, with Grother losing 0.56 seconds, was the Austrian Zamuel Maier.
Grother set a new track record of 55.77 seconds.
In the second race, Thomas also had a faulty fourth turn, which resulted in a loss of speed, as well as several minor mistakes at the bottom, reaching 11th place in the race and the seventh in two races. He lost 1.04 seconds to winner Jungk.
Martin also made a mistake in the fourth turn and lost speed at the top of the track. The exit from the 14th turn was not perfect either, taking the third place in the race and taking the same place in the sum of two races, the winner losing 0.45 seconds.
In a battle between two Germans, Jung played Grother, overtaking him by 0.11 seconds.
The fourth place was taken by the Russian Vladislav Semyonov, the fifth – by his compatriot Nikita Tregubov, and the sixth, being two hundredths of a second ahead of T. Dukur, is the third housekeeper Alexander Gasner.
After the first three stages, the German skeletonist Christopher Grother is leading the overall standings with 635 points. Junkgs is second with 601 points and M. Dukurs is third with 546 points, two points ahead of Semyonov. T. Dukurs has climbed to the 14th position in the competition of 31 drivers with 344 points.
M. Dukurs had the sixth starting number, but T. Dukurs – 22nd out of 28 skeletonists.
Mr Dukurs started the season with second place, conceding only to Alexander Tretyakov from Russia, but in the second stage he remained only in 11th place. T. Dukuram in the first stages, positions 16 and 18, respectively.
Martin Dukurs cannot be called a particularly successful last season. He won the World Cup for the tenth time in his career, winning the first four stages, but won silver in the European Championship for 11 consecutive gold medals, and had to settle for only 16th place at the World Championships in Altenberg, Germany.
Meanwhile, Thomas Dukurs, once climbing the podium in Sigulda, finished third in the overall World Cup standings. He took sixth place in the European Championship and seventh in the World Championship.
It has already been reported that Andy Steel took 17th place in women.
There will be a bobsleigh competition on Saturday and Sunday.
Since 2006, the International Federation of Bobsleigh and Skeletons (IBSF) has been hosting the World Cup stages together, distributing five sets of medals in one stage: a skeleton for ladies and gentlemen, a bobsleigh for men in doubles and fours, and a bobsled for two.
The next two stages will also take place on the German track – in Winterberg and again in Altenberg, but the teams will welcome the new year in Sigulda. Then there will be another stage of the World Cup in Winterberg, and the last stage will take place in mid-January in St. Moritz, Switzerland, also awarding the European Championship medals. The end of the season is scheduled for the Beijing Olympics in February.
Others are currently reading
SEA Director: Unvaccinated people with Covid-19 may find it difficult to maintain their unemployment status
What is affecting the sharp rise in electricity prices and what should its users expect?
.
