It has literally been a perfect season for Germany’s Francesco Friedrich, the Olympic champ in the two-man and four-man sleds. With Thorsten Margis, he won again in the two-man sled in the final World Cup race in Calgary (CAN) and completed an eight wins-in-eight races season to win his second World Cup title in the past three seasons.
In the four-man, he won again and led a Germany sweep in Calgary, ahead of Nico Walther and Johannes Lochner. Friedrich won his first four-man title, winning five of the eight races on the season.
In both events, he finished ahead of perhaps the next great driver, Latvia’s Oskar Kibermanis.
In the women’s two, German Mariama Jamanka won again to clinch the seasonal title, winning four of the eight races. She finished ahead of teammate Stephanie Schneider, who had two wins during the season, and American Elana Meyers Taylor.
Meyers Taylor, riding with Lauren Gibbs in Calgary, nearly fell out of the World Cup altogether after being disqualified in the first stop of the season in Innsbruck. But the Olympic silver medalist showed her class and grit, winning medals in all seven remaining races, going 3-3-2-3-1-1-2. If she had not been disqualified in Innsbruck, she would have finished second on the season, just 42 points behind Jamanka.
In the Skeleton events, Korea’s Olympic winner Sungbin Yun won on Sunday, but still finished second on the season to Russia’s Alexander Tretiakov, 1,704-1,680. Russia’s Elena Nikitina, the season-long leader, finished only fourth and fifth in Calgary, but still won with 1,663 points to 1,597 for Germany’s Tina Hermann.
The World Championships will be held next week, in Whistler (CAN). Summaries:
IBSF World Cup
Calgary (CAN) ~ 23-24 February 2019
(Full results here)
Men’s 2: 1. Francesco Friedrich/Thorsten Margis (GER), 1:50.84; 2. Justin Kripps/Ryan Sommer (CAN), 1:50.93; 3. Johannes Lochner/Christopher Weber (GER), 1:51.07; 4. Yunjong Won/Youngwoo Seo (KOR), 1:51.20; 5. Nico Walther/Paul Krenz (GER), 1:51.28. Also: 12. Justin Olsen/Chris Kinney (USA), 1:51.89; … 17. Geoffrey Gadbois/Adrian Adams (USA), 1:52.43; 18. Hunter Church/Kristopher Horn (USA), 1:52.46.
Men’s 2 Final Standings: 1. Friedrich (GER), 1,800; 2. O. Kibermanis (LAT), 1,564; 3. Walther (GER), 1,232; 4. Dominik Dvorak (CZE), 1,152; 5. Yunjong Won (KOR), 1,140. Also in the top 25: 14. Codie Bascue (USA), 808; 15. Olsen (USA), 762.
Men’s 4: 1. Germany (Francesco Friedrich), 1:47.63; 2. Germany (Nico Walther), 1:47.82; 3. Germany (Johannes Lochner), 1:47.84; 4. Latvia (Oskars Kibermanis), 1:47.88; 5. Canada (Justin Kripps), 1:48.10. Also: 17. United States (Geoffrey Gadbois), 1:48.93; 18. United States (Hunter Church), 1:48.94.
Men’s 4 Final Standings: 1. Friedrich (GER), 1.727; 2. O. Kibermanis (LAT), 1,616; 3. Lochner (GER), 1,605; 4. Walther (GER), 1,531; 5. Maxim Andrianov (RUS), 1,496. Also in the top 25: 16. Bascue (USA), 580; … 19. Olsen (USA), 506; … 25. Church (USA), 240.
Women’s 2: 1. Mariama Jamanka/Annika Drazek (GER), 1:53.62; 2. Elana Meyers Taylor/Lauren Gibbs (USA), 1:53.94; 3. Stephanie Schneider/Ann-Christin Strack (GER), 1:54.05; 4. Katrin Beirel/Jennifer Onasanya (AUT), 1:54.62; 5. Brittany Reinbolt/Jessica Davis (USA), 1:55.04. Also: 8. Nicole Vogt/Nicole Brungardt (USA), 1:55.40.
Women’s 2 Final Standings: 1. Jamanka (GER), 1,712; 2. Schneider (GER), 1,596; 3. Meyers Taylor (USA), 1,470; 4. Nadezhda Sergeeva (RUS), 1,386; 5. Anna Koehler (GER), 1,304. Also in the top 25: 6. Reinbolt (USA), 1,240; … 15. Vogt (USA), 296.
Men’s Skeleton I: 1. Alexander Tretiakov (RUS), 1:51.35; 2. Sungbin Yun (KOR), 1:51.48; 3. Martins Dukurs (LAT), 1:51.51; 4. Tomass Dukurs (LAT), 1:52.02; 5. Nikita Tregubov (RUS), 1:52.38. Also: 11. Austin Florian (USA), 1:52.95; … 14. Greg West (USA), 1:53.60
Men’s Skeleton II: 1. Yun (KOR), 1:52.70; 2. Tretiakov (RUS), 1:52.76; 3. T. Dukurs (LAT), 1:53.21; 4. M. Dukurs (LAT), 1:53.24; 5. Marcus Wyatt (GBR), 1:53.39. Also: 13. Florian, 1:53.98; … 18. West (USA), 1:54.60.
Men’s Skeleton Final Standings: 1. Tretiakov (RUS), 1,704; 2. Yun (KOR), 1.680; 3. M. Dukurs (LAT), 1,533; 4. Tregubov (RUS), 1,505; 5. Axel Jungk (GER), 1,458. Also in the top 25: 13. West (USA), 800; 14. Kyle Brown (USA), 776; 15. Florian (USA), 762.
Women’s Skeleton I: 1. Mirela Rahneva (CAN), 1:54.52; 2. Tina Hermann (GER), 1:54.98; 3. Elisabeth Maier (CAN), 1:55.20; 4. Elena Niktina (RUS), 1:55.28; 5. Jane Channell (CAN), 1:55.45. Also: 8. Kendall Wesenberg (USA), 1:55.81; … 16. Savannah Graybill (USA), 1:57.15.
Women’s Skeleton II: 1. Hermann (GER), 1:57.39; 2. Rahneva (CAN), 1:57.52; 3. Laura Deas (GBR), 1:57.68; 4. Maier (CAN), 1:57.74; 5. Nikitina (RUS), 1:57.95. Also: 9. Wesenberg (USA), 1:58.21; … 14. Graybill (USA), 1:58.88.
Women’s Skeleton Final Standings: 1. Nikitina (RUS), 1,663; 2. Hermann (GER), 1,597; 3. Rahneva (CAN), 1,396; 4. Sophia Griebel (GER), 1,360; 5. Jacquelline Loelling (GER), 1,244. Also in the top 25: 6. Wesenberg (USA), 1,200; … 15. Graybill (USA), 850.
