From Sigulda, LAT
(January 19, 2023) – Italy’s Amedeo Bagnis slid to gold in Sigulda in the fifth race of the IBSF European Cup skeleton season.
Bagnis was fourth after the first heat, .4 behind leader Lukas Nydegger of Germany. On his second run, Bagnis threw down the quickest run of the race to take the lead. Germany’s Ludwig Mannhardt was next, and couldn’t match Bagnis’s time, but slid into second with Great Britain’s Jacob Salisbury and Nydegger to go.
Salisbury put down the quick start of the second heat but had trouble late in his second run and fell to third from second in the first run. That left Nydegger between Bagnis and a gold.
Nydegger’s second run was going well, but like Salisbury he had trouble below Curve 14. Nydegger’s crash dropped him from a chance of a win all the way down to 20th to give Bagnis a gold medal.
Mannhardt finished second, and Salisbury third.
The win for Bagnis was his fourth in five European Cup races.
China’s Haifeng Zhu finished fourth, up from eighth after the first run. USA’s Hunter Williams moved up from sixth to fifth, tied with Great Britain’s Laurence Bostock.
Great Britain’s Patrick Atkin finished 11th, while Daniel Barefoot finished 15th.
Mike Rogals, making his first start in two years, finished 22nd for the Netherlands.
With three races to go in the European Cup men’s skeleton season, Haifeng Zhu leads Ludwig Mannhardt by just 14 points. Cedric Renner did not compete but is still third overall, with Stefan Röttig and Daniel Barefoot in fourth and fifth respectively.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Amedeo Bagnis | ITA | 11 | 4.65 | 4.67 | 51.63 | 50.87 | 1:42.50 |
| 2 | Ludwig Mannhardt | GER | 7 | 4.80 | 4.76 | 51.59 | 51.38 | 1:42.97 |
| 3 | Jacob Salisbury | GBR | 13 | 4.59 | 4.61 | 51.47 | 51.56 | 1:43.03 |
| 4 | Haifeng Zhu | CHN | 10 | 4.73 | 4.69 | 51.91 | 51.18 | 1:43.09 |
| 5 | Hunter Williams | USA | 4 | 4.84 | 4.81 | 51.69 | 51.44 | 1:43.13 |
| 6 | Laurnce Bostock | GBR | 6 | 4.67 | 4.63 | 51.76 | 51.37 | 1:43.13 |
| 7 | Stefan Röttig | GER | 9 | 4.58 | 5.61 | 51.64 | 51.51 | 1:43.15 |
| 8 | Timm Beiwinkler | GER | 3 | 4.90 | 4.85 | 51.95 | 51.73 | 1:43.68 |
| 9 | Pietro Drovanti | ITA | 14 | 4.64 | 4.64 | 52.31 | 51.39 | 1:43.70 |
| 10 | Qinwei Lin | CHN | 18 | 4.67 | 4.64 | 52.27 | 51.59 | 1:43.86 |
| 11 | Patrick Atkin | GBR | 17 | 4.75 | 4.68 | 52.04 | 52.00 | 1:44.04 |
| 12 | David Valdovskis | LAT | 19 | 4.82 | 4.81 | 52.32 | 51.88 | 1:44.20 |
| 13 | Markuss Everss | LAT | 20 | 4.81 | 4.86 | 52.57 | 51.80 | 1:44.37 |
| 14 | Valts Smilga | LAT | 23 | 4.92 | 4.90 | 52.65 | 52.02 | 1:44.67 |
| 15 | Daniel Barefoot | USA | 12 | 4.80 | 4.78 | 52.18 | 52.69 | 1:44.87 |
| 16 | Vladyslav Polyvach | POL | 8 | 4.92 | 4.95 | 53.10 | 52.14 | 1:45.24 |
| 17 | Gabriele Marenchino | ITA | 2 | 4.71 | 4.76 | 53.35 | 51.92 | 1:45.27 |
| 18 | Emils Indriksons | LAT | 1 | 4.87 | 4.79 | 53.20 | 52.16 | 1:45.36 |
| 19 | Roman Tanzer | AUT | 15 | 4.75 | 4.77 | 53.39 | 52.36 | 1:45.75 |
| 20 | Lukas ydegger | GER | 5 | 4.88 | 4.86 | 51.23 | 57.25 | 1:48.48 |
| 21 | Marvin Moscara | ITA | 16 | 4.65 | 53.46 | |||
| 22 | Mike Rogals | NED | 24 | 5.12 | 53.66 | |||
| 23 | Mio Olsson Klarqvist | SWE | 21 | 5.33 | 54.57 | |||
| 24 | Hubert Licman | SLO | 22 | 6.08 | 59.25 |
