The victory in the sum of two races was secured for Thomas in a minute and 41.36 seconds. Martin was 0.06 seconds behind, while third-place winner Korean Jung Seungi lost 0.37 seconds to Thomas.
Martina Dukura’s 2nd trip
Martin’s second trip started unsuccessfully, the sledge slipping out of the starting groove, but he continued the fight and took the second place at the finish. Martin was the leader after the first race, but reached the tenth result in the second race.
Thomas Dukura’s 2nd trip
Thomas made minor adjustments on the second race of the track, but maintained the speed that allowed him to enter the top three for the first time of the season.
Conversation with Tomas and Martin Dukuri at the end of the competition
After the race, Tomas Dukurs said in an interview on Latvian Television that both races were successful, but he would have preferred to have won without the brother’s mistake. Martins, on the other hand, admitted that he had made an effort to get the maximum acceleration in the start of the second race. Before the start, Martin still considered pushing the sledge along the less risky track, but did not change anything. In the first turn, Martin was still half-sitting in his sleigh, but he was satisfied that after such an unsuccessful start, the rest of the trip went well and allowed him to stay in second place.
In the first race, Martin took a 0.33 second lead over second-placed Korean Jung Seung, who was 0.03 seconds ahead of Thomas.
Martina Dukura’s 1st trip
A quick start-up helped Martin to pick up speed at the top of the track, and even closer to the finish he was precise enough to leave all competitors behind on the first race.
Thomas Dukura’s 1st ride
Thomas had a number of obvious mistakes on the first race after the start of the track, which affected the result.
Martins Dukurs for the 1st trip
After the first trip, Martins admitted in an interview on Latvian Television that he had made a couple of mistakes at the top of the track, but undertook to correct them in the second trip. Martin was also surprised by the change in weather conditions with rising temperatures, but he emphasized that the housekeeper needed to know how to deal with the situation. Martin was “more or less satisfied” with the first trip.
Thomas Dukurs on the 1st trip
Meanwhile, Thomas admitted that he drove quite badly and had unacceptable mistakes on his home track at his expense. Thomas expressed his determination to do his best on the second trip.
Conversation with Mikhail Arhipov
The coach of the Latvian national team Mikhail Arhipov told Latvian Television in an interview that both brothers Dukuri had mistakes in the first trip, especially to Thomas. It is possible that Thomas’ mistake was also due to changes in the weather, as the air temperature was constantly around -10 degrees during training.
Conversation with Daina Dukura
Dainis Dukurs, the most experienced specialist in the local skeleton, emphasized in an interview on Latvian Television before the competition that the ice is the same for everyone, therefore a good result will have to go well. The senior Dukurs explained that he himself is working from the Latvian national team so that the team is not unnecessarily endangered by the risk of Covid-19 distribution. Also in order to save the team’s finances, Dainis Dukurs is not involved in the team’s work as much as before.
It has already been reported that Andry Steel won the 21st place in the skeleton for women earlier on Friday. Dainis Dukurs believes that a restart is needed in the women’s team in order to turn the course of events in a direction more worthy of the Latvian skeleton.
On Saturday and Sunday, one competition for men’s bobsleigh doubles. The women will start in monobobs on Saturday, while the ladies will compete in bobsleigh on Sunday.
The competition takes place without the presence of spectators, but LTV7 and replay.lv will be able to follow the course of all trips.
During the World Cup season in skeleton and bobsleigh, participants in eight stages until mid-January will also qualify for the Beijing Winter Olympics. The World Cup season after the race in Sigulda will end with the last two stages on the Winterberg track in Germany and St. Moritz in Switzerland. The Olympic Games in China will start on February 4.
