2016/2017 IBSF World Cup Overall Standings

From the Home Office in Durham, USA

Final points from the 2016/2017 IBSF World Cup season are below.

Women’s Skeleton

After the bulk of the German women’s skeleton team had retired, there was a brief lull in Germany seriously contending for medals at every track. The 2016/2017 season saw a resurgence in the German program, with junior Jacqueline Lölling taking the overall title ahead of teammate Tina Hermann.

Hermann came into the final race of the season with a strong chance of taking the overall title, but a ninth place run in PyeongChang left her in second place.

Canadian Mirela Rahneva finished third overall in her first season on the World Cup tour, on the strength of a St. Moritz race that she absolutely dominated, winning by over a full second on the field.

Janine Flock and Elisabeth Vathje both scored wins in the first half of the season on their way to fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively, while Laura Deas finished sixth overall.

Annie O’Shea was the top overall American in tenth.

Pos Name Nation Best Finish Worst Finish Points
1 Jacqueline Lölling (J) GER 1 (3x) 9 (Igl) 1591
2 Tina Hermann GER 1 (Igl) 10 (LP) 1493
3 Mirela Rahneva CAN 1 (SM) 18 (Alt) 1475
4 Janine Flock AUT 1 (LP) 12 (Pye) 1449
5 Elisabeth Vathje (J) CAN 1 (2x) 14 (2x) 1386
6 Laura Deas GBR 6 (3x) 17 (Kön) 1240
7 Lelde Priedulena LAT 5 (2x) 14 (2x) 1224
8 Anna Fernstädt GER 3 (Kön) 11 (SM) 1192
9 Lizzy Yarnold GBR 2 (LP) 15 (SM) 1162
10 Annie O’Shea USA 6 (2x) 19 (Pye) 1058

Men’s Skeleton

The only surprise atop the men’s skeleton World Cup rankings was how close the points ended up being.

Martins Dukurs took his eighth consecutive overall title, this time edging Sungbin Yun of Korea. The points were close, with Dukurs “only” winning four times on the season. Yun won once, and never finished outside of the top five, but the strong finish to the season for the Latvian was too much to overcome.

Yun was the top finishing junior on the season.

Alexander Tretiakov finished third after sitting out the opening race of 2017 in Altenberg. He finished with two wins and never finished outside of the top four. Germans Axel Jungk, Christopher Grotheer, and Alexander Gassner rounded out the top six.

American Matt Antoine finished seventh overall, while Barrett Martineau was the top-finishing Canadian in 13th.

Pos Name Nation Best Finish Worst Finish Points
1 Martins Dukurs LAT 1 (4x) 6 (Kön) 1662
2 Sungbin Yun (J) KOR 1 (Whi) 5 (2x) 1623
3 Alexander Tretiakov RUS 1 (2x) 4 (SM) 1454
4 Axel Jungk GER 3 (Alt) 7 (2x) 1448
5 Christopher Grotheer GER 1 (Alt) 9 (Whi) 1425
6 Alexander Gassner GER 3 (Kön) 9 (LP) 1392
7 Matt Antoine USA 2 (LP) 10 (2x) 1322
8 Nikita Tregybov (J) RUS 3 (SM) 8 (LP) 1256
9 Tomass Dukurs LAT 2 (Win) 13 (Whi) 1218
10 Dominic Parsons GBR 7 (Kön) 13 (Pye) 1144

Women’s Bobsled

As it’s been for quite some time now, the battle for the top spot in women’s bobsled came down to Kaillie Humphries, Jamie Greubel Poser, and Elana Meyers Taylor

Meyers Taylor found trouble early in the season, crashing in Whistler and finishing with a disqualification. She rallied back with four gold medals and three silver medals in the final seven races, moving her way up to third in the standings.

Meyers Taylor’s early trouble left the top spot to be determined between Humphries and Greubel Poser. The two pilots traded the points lead going into the final race in PyeongChang. Humphries struggled in her first run on the Olympic track, while Greubel Poser took gold on her way to winning the overall title. Humphries finished 14 points back, while Meyers Taylor took third overall.

Austrian Christina Hengster was the top-finishing European on tour in fourth, winning two medals over the course of the season. Russians Nadezhda Sergeeva and Aleksandra Rodionova finished fifth and sixth.

An Vannieuwenhuyse finished as the top junior in 11th.

Pos Name Nation Best Finish Worst Finish Points
1 Jamie Greubel Poser USA 1 (2x) 5 (Alt) 1644
2 Kaillie Humphries CAN 1 (2x) 5 (2x) 1630
3 Elana Meyers Taylor USA 1 (4x) 2 (3x) 1530
4 Christina Hengster AUT 2 (Whi) 12 (Pye) 1394
5 Nadezhda Sergeeva RUS 4 (Win) 10 (Igl) 1360
6 Aleksandra Rodionova RUS 6 (Whi) 13 (Pye) 1280
7 Mariama Jamanka GER 2 (Win) 11 (Whi) 1258
8 Alysia Rissling CAN 3 (Pye) 11 (Win) 1016
9 Brittany Reinbolt USA 4 (USA) 15 (Kön) 1008
10 Elfje Willemsen BEL 4 (Alt) 17 (Igl) 888

Two-Man Bobsled

Francesco Friedrich absolutely dominated the IBSF two-man bobsled program over the 2016/2017 season. The German entered in seven of eight World Cup races, winning five of them and finishing second in the other two events.

American Steven Holcomb finished second overall, and was the only non-German to win during the season. Holcomb took home three two-man medals over the course of the season, finishing just ahead of Korean Yunjong Won.

Johannes Lochner was the top finishing junior in fourth, winning two races over the course of a season. Russians  Alexander Kasjanov and Alexey Stulnev finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Justin Kripps was the top-finishing Canadian in ninth.

Pos Name Nation Best Finish Worst Finish Points
1 Francesco Friedrich GER 1 (5x) 2 (2x) 1545
2 Steven Holcomb USA 1 (LP) 14 (Pye) 1331
3 Yunjong Won KOR 3 (Whi) 16 (Kön) 1312
4 Johannes Lochner (J) GER 1 (2x) 16 (Igl) 1284
5 Alexander Kasjanov RUS 2 (Alt) 16 (Pye) 1266
6 Alexey Stulnev RUS 4 (Kön) 17 (Igl) 1208
7 Benjamin Maier (J) AUT 3 (Igl) 25 (Pye) 1152
8 Oskars Kibermanis LAT 2 (Pye) 8 (Igl) 1138
9 Justin Kripps CAN 2 (LP) 21 (SM) 1136
10 Rico Peter SUI 2 (Whi) 23 (Pye) 1070

Four-Man Bobsled

Unlike two-man bobsled, the race for the overall four-man title was a tight one. Coming into PyeongChang, Alexander Kasjanov and Rico Peter were neck and neck for the points lead. In the final race, both Kasjanov and Peter were exceptional, with Kasjanov edging Peter both in the race and in the overall points with the difference over the course of the entire season being one finishing position.

Steven Holcomb finished a solid third overall, with Alexey Stulnev, Nico Walther and junior Johannes Lochner rounding out the top six.