BOBSLED & SKELETON: Meyers Taylor and Gibbs score first World Cup win this season

Elana Meyers Taylor and Lauren Gibbs racing to a win in St. Moritz (SUI). (Photo: IBSF/Viesturs Lacis)

Winning streaks are meant to be broken, and Germany’s perfect record in the 2018-19 World Cup got stopped in St. Moritz (SUI) by the American duo of Elana Meyers Taylor and Lauren Gibbs.

German sleds had won all three races at the first five World Cup stops and Francesco Friedrich won his sixth straight World Cup in the two-man race in the morning on Saturday (for 16 in a row). But when the women came onto the track, Meyers Taylor and Gibbs – who paired up for the first since their Olympic silver performance in PyeongChang last year – were not to be denied.

They had the fastest runs on both races, winning by 0.12 in the first race and 0.33 in the second, both huge margins in bobsled. But then again, they were racing in St. Moritz.

Meyers Taylor’s last World Cup win came in St. Moritz last season, and was her fourth in a row there, with three different brakemen:

2016: with Lauren Gibbs
2017: with Briauna Jones
2018: with Lolo Jones
2019: with Lauren Gibbs again

It was also the sixth straight year in which Meyers Taylor has won at least one World Cup race, this time despite a heavy cold.

Friedrich continued his undefeated run through the two-man season, winning for the sixth straight time. He also won the four-man again, for the fourth time in six races, so his seasonal ledger shows 10 wins, a silver and a bronze in 12 races.

Also returning to form in the men’s Skeleton racing was Olympic champ Sungbin Yun (KOR), who won for the first time this season and repeated his victory at St. Moritz as well. Summaries:

IBSF World Cup
St. Moritz (SUI) ~ 25-27 January 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s 2: 1. Francesco Friedrich/Alexander Schueller (GER), 2:12.29; 2. Johannes Lochner/Christian Rasp (GER), 2:12.69; 3. Oskars Kibermanis/Matiss Miknis (LAT), 2:12.80; 4. Michael Vogt/Sandro Michel (SUI), 2:13.08; 5. Yunjong Won/Jinsu Kim (KOR), 2:13.25. Also: 13. Codie Bascue/Hakeem Abdul-Saboor (USA), 2:13.93; … 16. Justin Olsen/Joshua Williamson (USA), 2:14.46.

Men’s 4: 1. Germany (Francesco Friedrich), 2:10.48; 2. Germany (Johannes Lochner), 2:10.99; 3. Latvia (Oskars Kibermanis), 2:11.01; 4. Russia (Maxim Andrianov), 2:11.21; 5. Monaco (Rudy Rinaldi), 2:11.21. Also: 9. United States (Codie Bascue), 2:11.73; … 19. United States (Justin Olsen), 2:13.20.

Women’s 2: 1. Elana Meyers Taylor/Lauren Gibbs (USA), 2:16.11; 2. Stephanie Schneider/Lisa Sophie Gericke (GER), 2:16.71; 3. Mariama Jamanka/Franziska Bertels (GER), 2:16.87; 4. Anna Koehler/Lena Zelichowski (GER), 2:17.12; 5. Mica McNeill/Aleasha Kiddle (GBR), 2:17.19. Also: 11. Brittany Reinbolt/Jessica Davis (USA), 2:18.32.

Men’s Skeleton: 1. Sungbin Yun (KOR), 2:15.96; 2. Alexander Tretiakov (RUS), 2:16.16; 3. Nikita Tregubov (RUS), 2:16.23; 4. Tomass Dukurs (LAT), 2:16.70; 5. Axel Jungk (GER), 2:16.74. Also: 16. Austin Florian (USA), 2:18.42; … 18. Greg West (USA), 2:18.72; … 20. Kyle Brown (USA), 2:18.83.

Women’s Skeleton: 1. Mirela Rahneva (CAN), 2:17.77; 2. Elena Nikitina (RUS), 2:18.00; 3. Jacquelline Loelling (GER), 2:18.63; 4. Tina Hermann (GER), 2:18.67; 5. Sophia Griebel (GER), 2:18.78. Also: 7. Kendall Wesenberg (USA), 2:18.85; … 14. Savannah Graybill (USA), 2:20.63.